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.
My church has a live Nativity scene and they use a life-like doll as baby Jesus. It's very realistic.
Doesn't psychology recognize any aspect of the grieving process anymore?
This is actually *less* (subjective, I suppose) creepy than parents who create dead infant memorial web pages.
Illustrated with photographs of their dead baby, wearing infant clothes and placed in a crib as if it were alive, with poems and prose in blue or pink, you are left with no doubts that those parents suffer from deep psychological damage.
I do not recommend searching for such pages.
Weird. I predict that within a few years there will be 'RealDoll'-style dolls of little kids, produced for pedos.
Oh man!! Did I ever have this one wrong. Thanks for straightening that out.
What was my daughters name again?
ping
I suppose people gotta do what they gotta do. But still, this creeps me out.
My condolences on your loss.
Best Regards.
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