ARTICLE - FAMILY TALK: BEING THE MOMMY OF A DOLL

Family Talk: Being The Mommy Of A Doll

Is the new craze of treating life-like dolls as though they are real babies just plain crazy?

• By Liliana De Jesus
• April 4, 2012  
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  Living in New York, you come across crazy people of all varieties. Are the ‘reborn’ baby mamas just another group of nuts?
  Reborn Dolls, are life-like dolls that cost between $50 to $4,000, according to a report by the Huffington Post. The dolls were first created in the early '90s, but with recent media attention, the subculture of mommies engaged in doll-mothering has now become a national curiosity.
  Getting the feel of motherhood, without all of the real nitty-gritty work may be appealing to some, but I find it strange that those with that urge opt for an inanimate object, rather than perhaps a pet.
  A BuzzFeed fact report on Reborn Dolls cites that some owners of the dolls get them as replacements to children that have passed or those that have become adults.
  A televised report on MSNBC's Today show featured an interview with a collector of reborns, revealing the use of the dolls as a way to fulfil a need for comfort and love.
  The therapeutic value found in the adult play is something worth looking at. Being a mother is one of the most fulfilling and joyous experiences any woman will ever know, because it is real.
  That fulfilment and joy comes out of the interaction you are having with your child, a real life human being, not a lifeless doll. I find it concerning to think that women, and a small number of men, are using dolls to replicate the experience of parenthood, or to replace children that are no longer.
  I think filling a void of comfort and love with an object is unhealthy. I would not, however, suggest that these women have or adopt real life babies to meet their needs, as some women do. I think those that have submersed themselves in this hobby should look deeper into the feelings that are causing them to look for comfort and love in the way of caring for an object.
  Putting so much emotional investment in something that is not real will not ultimately solve their problems or fulfil the true needs of those looking for comfort and love.