MY REAL-LIFE DOLLS
Mother even takes out toy tots in pram
A WOMAN treats three dolls as her children and even uses the pram spaces on buses.
Holly Smith, 23, and her fiancé Adam Taylor, 26, have spent £1,700 on them.
The vinyl tots, known as “reborns”, are used to help people cope with the loss of a child. Holly, from Romford, Essex, had a miscarriage in 2009 and has since struggled to conceive.
She said: “I have three reborns – Christopher, a six-month-old baby, and Lola and Logan are twins. They’re newborn babies.
“I dress them, clean them and take them out everywhere. People think they’re real babies and when I tell them the truth, they’re so shocked as they look so realistic.
“People have said they are so beautiful and look so real. I’ve had people hold them because they don’t believe they’re not real babies. In the past, I have had a couple of negative comments but it is more to do with taking up pram space on the bus than the actual doll.
“People have said I’m crazy and weird to have a doll in a pram.
“They don’t understand. When I’ve been on the bus, people have said: ‘Move your pram, your baby is not real. It’s just a doll.’ “Once, the bus driver was even on my side because I was there first and they just think it’s a sleeping baby.
“Picking up the reborn babies helps a lot. It just melts your anxiety away.
“I treat them like real babies but I know they’re not real.
“They just mean so much to me – as a real baby would.
“Some of my baby stuff is second-hand and was cheap as I can’t afford new stuff.
“But I’d say all together I have spent about £900 for all their stuff. I’ve £50 every month to buy accessories.
“The twins together were £500 and Christopher £290.” CUTE: The newborn twins with six-month-old ‘brother’