Some Samples
Posted on 02/23/2007 5:45:03 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Dolls Replace Lost Babies
Updated: 15:23, Thursday February 22, 2007
Parents struggling to cope with losing a baby are easing their grief with replica dolls of their lost children.
The lifelike models, called Reborn Dolls, have a mechanical beating heart, realistic hair and even veins, says The Sun.
Experts make them look identical to a child that has died, and weights are placed in their limbs and bodies to mimic the way a real baby would feel to hold.
Wendy Graham, one of the UK's leading 'Reborners', has made several dolls for grieving parents in the past four years.
Replica dolls "It was so sad when I received my first picture of a dead child," she said. "I hoped my doll would turn out exactly like the baby and the couple would be happy with it. It's a strange thing to do."
The 40-year-old, from Lincoln, added: "Just because a baby has died doesn't mean they should be forgotten. Reborns have so much colour, they look so lifelike - as if they're sleeping."
But the Child Bereavement Trust, a charity that counsels grieving families, has warned against parents replacing lost babies with models.
It told The Sun: "It's more helpful for them to face the reality of what is happening and express their painful feelings without relying on such a doll."
The Reborn industry is successful in the US, but is only just starting in Britain.
Most dolls are bought by collectors, who pay up to £450 for each one.
Ping!
I don't know for sure, but i don't think i could handle having one of these.
Creepy. Very creepy.<p.
seems creepy to me- very very creepy and unhealthy to transfer love for a deceased child to an inanimate object no matter how "lifelike" it looks
That is freaky and weird.
And the infantilization of a generation continues.
I agree...this is just one notch down the creepiness ladder from those that toss their dead loved ones in the freezer, or take their pets to the taxidermist.
It is creepy. It could open a new dimension to horror movies.
IMHO, anyone who wants one of these should be spending their money on psychiatric help, not a doll.
Agreed.
I can't imagine losing my son - there must be no experience in the world more painful for a parent than the loss of a child - but this seems really out there.
I did lose my son and you are right. NO greater pain.
But there are NO shortcuts to the grieving process and stunts like this are only going to cause a lot more grief
This is totally bass-ackwards ...exactly the last thing one should be doing to live with the loss of a child. The child is dead ... turning oneself into a thumb-sucking idiot won't change that fact.
They are so lifelike...so real, that it's even creepier. Their "realness" makes them *look* dead.
I agree about the creepiness factor. However, there is a point of deepest grief when a bereaved mother is reduced to being a simple animal crazed with pain. It is really like being an animal because you are all instinct, with no real access to intellect. You can hardly even pray except to say, "God, please make it stop." In those moments your hormones are talking and you just urgently need something small, soft, and warm to hold and nuzzle. All the wiring of the female brain and the flood of hormones urges this.
That said, this doll probably won't do much good because it must take quite long time to order it, and by the time it arrives that point of mad grief is past. Another poster is right in saying that the money is better spent on psychiatric care and medication.
Compassion, folks.
But...
what happens when the batteries running the "heart" of the "replacement baby" (Goodness that sounds creepy) die (for lack of a better word)? Wouldn't that just cause more anguish and pain?
But I think that the thought of buying them on Ebay is even more creepy: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=reborn+doll
But I must admit the sleeping ones are beautiful. The ones laying there with open eyes (especially the one named Paige on this page: http://www.reborn-baby.com/gallery.html ) kinda...I don't know...bother me.
That said, I hope that neither I nor anyone I love need be in a situation where one of these is needed other than just as a collector item, and if they help a family, wonderful!!!
"
This is the creepiest, most bizarre thing I've heard in a long time. Having had a miscarriage myself, this is the last thing I would ever do.
Lord help these people because they seriously need it.
oh...I thought you were joking...but no...it's for sale on ebay sans "bottle o' blood." I guess that is what happens when the batteries go?
ick ick ick
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