Bloody reborn doll

[Horriblescareydolls]

My sister has collected dolls for while now and has always gone with ones from around the world. She has recently started on reborn which are hyper real dolls that look like real babies. I find it creepy they but each to their own. She has started wandering about with the fucking doll in a baby pram, I met her for lunch and assumed when she came in with a pram that due was babysitting a friends baby, she doesn't have a baby herself. On closer inspection there is a bloody reborn doll with a bloody dummy in its gob. I couldn't stay when she took the damn thing out to hold and walked away. She said that "reborn community " are used to mockery and why can't I just be happy for her. I told her because she is a grown woman pushing a dolly in a pram and its fucking weird. She wants to bring it to family parties......I can't cope!!!!Thoughts anyone?

You either “get” realistic baby dolls or you don’t. To me the stiff old fashioned traditional doll can seem creepy but the modern reborns have an appeal that I find hard to explain. There is no way I’d play at parenting one but still the attraction is there. I have wondered if it’s because of an excess of the need to nurture.
OP are you chiefly worried about what other people might think? Why not just humour her. Maybe she’ll get another hobby soon. BTW there are videos on YouTube of people opening parcels containing reborn babies they have ordered from doll artists. They often have whole nurseries devoted to them. Very expensive if you get the genuine article

I would not tolerate that non sense behaviour either.

It’s not ‘normal’ but it also isn’t hurting anyone.

What would you try and do about it?!

Society has progressed in a very unhealthy way. It seems those who pretend are given priority over those who are actually living and experiencing
See transwomen and the thread with reborn dolls in prams taking up bus spaces

at a time where there was shortage of baby food during the pandemic, the reborn community bought out baby formula leaving a shortage, same with baby nappies . I make and sell hand made clothes for the re born community and they pay significantly more than new mums will pay . They are a community, the dolls are posed around living rooms , and taken put like real babies, if it is a mental illness then there is a huge community of them out there who all must be mad. If is no different to any other hobby, and no real harm , Unless they are leaving real babies short of food/ nappies .

It's weird but I think you overreacted. It's just a doll. If she's enjoying it, then whatever. If there are other things you're concerned about in her behaviour, then maybe she needs support to get help. It sounds like she's found a community. Has she lacked belonging before? It could be filling a need for her.

I actually like reborn dolls. I like the realism. I have one but it lives in a shelf out of plain view for the benefit of those who find them creepy.

First I’m thinking WEIRD AS !

Then, I’m thinking is your sister Ok ?

Then, I’m like, if it makes her happy who am I to judge !

Now I think how gloriously bonkers !

Think you need to embrace the bonkersness OP 😁

I think it's a mental health problem. When I had a relative with dementia in a care home, one of the other old ladies had a reborn doll because she was stuck at a point in the past where she believed she had a real baby and was looking after it. The doll comforted her. I suppose we all have crutches and comforts but I think an otherwise compos mentis grown-up wheeling a dolly around is just batshit.

An even scarier thought OP. AI is going to bring those freaky things to life soon.

There are a group of people near me who organise meet ups with their reborn dolls and go for a walk with them mainly in the lovely old style silver cross prams
It wouldn’t be for me but they are harmless if a little eccentric or maybe it helps their MH after loss and trauma
They probably wouldn’t get my kitten/cat obsession
When DF was in a nursing home after he had a stroke - many of the residents with dementia had a lot of comfort from dolls and soft toys
DM now has Alzheimer’s and loves chatting to her teddy - they watch tv together

Do you see grown men taking their Lego creations out for a walk in a buggy?

When I was 12 my mother told me it wasn't normal to like dolls and made me feel like crap. I didn't look at a doll for years after that. I now have a reasonable doll collection, along a theme and they're all collector's items, so there mother! They all sit on a shelf looking nice now.

As long as it's not hurting anyone, I'd let her do her thing.

Sad, let her babysit more and she could bring her doll.

It really depends on the situation but pretending is normal won’t help. It points towards serious mental health issues. I would not be surprised if a person doing that ends up in a psychiatric unit. A hobby not really but I only seen one person in a shopping center feeding a doll and we thought she was mentally ill. It could have been these dolls.

I worked in elderly care as an activity leader and bought some reborn's online in 2012 one resident had experienced seven miscarriages and she loved to dress them, I purchased a marmet pram and instead of being hunched over a walking frame they pushed the pram around the garden and were once again 'new mums' even some of the men liked them. We'd have afternoon tea in the garden and some of the more agitated residents were more settled and calmer rocking the pram on a summers afternoon. Everyone loves a 'baby' and these reborn's bring a lot of joy to a lot of people for all different reasons so I think you should leave your sister to enjoy her hobby... men play with remote control boats and cars in public places and nobody bats an eyelid or they play with train sets and Lego so 🤷‍♀️ each to their own.

Lots of parents of older, real children bought formula as well, there was an argument on Mumsnet that got deleted where someone’s relative had bought formula because they couldn’t get milk but their children were all over 10 and lots of people said they would do/had done the same because their older children having milk was just as important as younger children having milk.

I don't see it being any different than the adult males I know that are into Lego, another car tracks etc

YABU to be so angry about it.

she sounds deeply unwell and needs help.

Collecting them is fine (weird but not necessarily anything to worry about). Treating it like a real baby in that she has to put it in a pram etc? Deeply disturbing. Has she had pregnancy loss or infertility?

I couldn't stay when she took the damn thing out to hold and walked away.

This sounds more like a you problem.

It’s not about the doll. It’s about your embarrassment to be seen with your sister and the doll, because you see this is as embarrassing.

She’s not harming anybody. I say good for her for having the confidence to bring her doll out in public. She obviously doesn’t care about other peoples opinions on her, so why do you?

You do know that they are weighted, some are breathing and have a heart beat you can feel...
Good quality ones are meticulously hand painted, which is amazing, considering people think they are real!

( I used to volunteer for a charity flogging donated stuff on eBay. Many end up in charity shops as a way of re homing - it's creepy!!)

I would also be concerned for her mental health.. this is just not in anyway normal

I wouldn’t entertain that fuckery either. A few years ago here in Aus, police were called to smash through a window to rescue a baby in a shopping centre carpark - it was one of those creepy dolls and the owner was shitty about her car, while everyone else was crabby about the waste of resources.

No one cares when men get their model trains out 😁

Yep