Along with those who have more practical reasons for seeking out dolls, there is also a subculture of people – primarily women – who collect them en masse, and treat them as if they are real. They may decorate elaborate nurseries, spend what amounts to thousands of pounds on clothing and accessories for their “child”; some have collections that run into the hundreds, in part inspired by prolific accounts on social media, who show off their Reborns to tens of thousands of subscribers. (As is the case for one major YouTuber in the lifelike doll space, Kellie Girl, some of whom’s videos have been viewed over 750,000 times.) They have also transcended the world of entertainment: the storyline of an Apple TV+ series, Servant, involved a couple who believed their doll was real. They have also been featured in plenty of reality programmes, including 2012’s My Crazy Obsession.
Several women I spoke with said that their families didn’t like their use of dolls, with the greatest resistance often coming from their children. “My family don’t like them but they help me a lot so they tolerate them,” Merton says of her “rainbow” children (born following a stillbirth), now aged 15 and 17.
Still, most were willing not to object too strongly, knowing the comfort they can bring in times of emotional difficulty. For Merton, her two dolls are both a salve and a reminder of the little girl she lost. “If I’m missing her, I can hold one and close my eyes, and it reminds me what it felt like to hold her. That, to me, is really special.”
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