I Am Mum To 35 Babies!

On her 40th birthday, Silvia’s daughters gave her a gift that would change her life

When my daughters, Veronika (23) and Sofia (18) were little, I relished every moment changing their nappies, dressing them in cute outfits and rocking them to sleep.

When they grew up I missed doing all those things. But when I turned 40, my children had the perfect solution.

Onmy birthday, I found a basket onmy doorstep and when I pulled the blanket back, there was a little face looking back at me and a card that read: “I’m Isabella, will you take care of me?”

My daughters beamed as I scooped the baby from the basket.

“Happy birthday!” they cheered. “She’s gorgeous,” I said. She had tiny curled up fingers, rosebud lips and plump cheeks.

But she wasn’t a real baby, she was a reborn doll made of vinyl. Veronika and Sofia told me they had bought Isabella from eBay.

Weeks later, I visited the website and typed in ‘reborn dolls’. My eyes widened at the results. There were thousands of listings for reborns so I placed a few bids and waited excitedly.

“Yes!” I said, when I won boy and girl twins.

And that was it – I was hooked.

My collection began to grow and I began to wonder whether I could make my own reborns?

So I went on a course and created my first handmade doll, Sally. Holding the finished product, I knew I wanted to make reborns for a living so I started my own company called Fairies Reborn Magic Nursery.

My girls helped me change, dress and bathe the dolls. I liked to treat them just like real babies.

We would also pack the car and head outside. We went to the beach, camping, to the cinema, horse-riding, roller skating, to restaurants, sightseeing – you name it, they’ve done it!

In time, I began making them each a baby book. I even

I knew Iwanted to make reborns for a living

went online to search for baby scans, which I printed off and added alongside the photos.

One day, Sofia needed to create some artwork for her Visual Arts studies.

“I want to make something new and different,” she said.

I taught her how to make a reborn doll, but not just any ordinary reborn. We produced conjoined twins and named them Kendall and Kylie.

Some of my friends don’t understand my passion for reborns but I love them so much. They can bring so much happiness – they even help Alzheimer’s patients retain, and even get back, some of their memories.

I’m thankful to Veronika and Sofia for introducing me to the world of reborns.

It means I can keep expanding our family without actually giving birth!

My daughters will always come first, but I have a special bond formy babies. I wouldn’t changemy big happy family for anything.