Custom reborn babies are manufactured art dolls that are made to resemble real infants. The process of which they made reborn baby dolls is called reborning and artists who made them are called reborners. The hobby of making reborn dolls started in 1990 when artists were very much obsessed with making dolls that were more realistic. Most custom reborn babies are bought online and they are worth around a hundred dollars depending on the style and creativity of the person who made them.
Custom reborn babies are quite time-consuming since during the process you need to get a vinyl doll, put some real-looking multiple hand-painted layers and come up with some physical features. Artists can choose many different options that would best suit the doll they picked to create. Customers may buy custom reborn babies and choose a kit name.
They can be used for Therapy
There are customers who use them to deal with their grief with a lost child or just a remembrance of their grown child. Still, some purchase these dolls to play with it. Experts are still trying to research whether these dolls can do harm or if they can really help during the grieving time. Since they look completely real, they are often mistaken for real infants.
A collector named Jennifer explains how she made it a hobby. At first, she was only fascinated with Silver Cross prams. She was just only buying some prams for her daughter but it was so pretty that she wished it should have a doll in it. She tried to research baby dolls online and it was then that she discovered about custom reborn babies. They were really expensive so she bought a blank kit which was less expensive, though, they were not made with the same material. Her daughter never really played with it, it was more for her than her daughter.
When she finished her very first doll, she went to Sliema with it and people were looking and mistaken it for a baby. People would stop her child for a second while playing it and would be surprised to know that it is not a real infant. Jennifer loved to create dolls and this is how she started creating custom reborn babies, as of the moment she now has 25 dolls.
How to Customize
So many steps are included in reborning. For Jennifer, it took two weeks to finish one baby doll. Everything took time; just the hair rooting can take about 30 hours. Hair must be rooted individually and glued from inside out to help keep the hair in place. Eyelashes are being rooted too so that they easily be washed and combed.
It all starts with a kit of legs, arms, and head. IT comes with different paint layers for hand and body. The kit also has a suede cloth body that has poly filler and beads. The limbs are secured by tiebacks clips.
Additional features will be the next like nails, veins and the mottling, which is the blotchy look of the skin. Finally, the doll will be completed with a sealant that allows it to be washed or bathe and it also makes the skin scratch proof.
Custom reborn babies do really look and feel like real babies, including the weight which also replicates the weight of a true baby. The manufacturer makes use of glass beads to make it feel like you are carrying a baby. Its smell also resembles that wafer smell that real baby has.
The customization is also great because it does give it the natural skin color, birthmarks, and the weight. You may also choose to have your baby bald or with hair. The eye gaze also feels very natural. The eyes are made of glass covered with silicone, thus, creating that nice gaze. The mouth also has a magnet inside that it can hold a pacifier. You may also want to add some magnet in the head so that it can hold a clip, a bow or a hair dress. There many different accessories that can be used to customize reborn babies, and there are some that can be very expensive.
Genuine custom reborn babies can sometimes be costly, but they are really worth to have. Some dolls even have a tummy plate that is used when you want to have them wear some crop tops to show a belly button. There are even others that have back plate and inside parts.
You need to have some ovens and tools, not to mention, creativity and patience to customize them. Some owners actually just learned to be creative on their own. These dolls come with onesies, diapers, shoes, socks and a pacifier.
Custom reborn babies are very popular in the United States, Australia, and even the United Kingdom. Though, there are also some collectors in Malta, yes it is actually a foreign market.
Be a Collector Now!
Based on research, there are collectors who actually own more than a hundred pieces of these dolls. Some of the owners experienced miscarriage, loss of a child and some are unable to have kids. These owners say they have had truly bonded with their reborn babies.
One of the collectors in Malta said that she had a miscarriage once and having custom reborn babies make her calm. There is also a group on Facebook that is all about reborn dolls and they even post their pictures with their reborn babies. If you will read the comments on their posts, you will notice that some of them have gone too far.
Reborn dolls are also being used today to help the elderly in retirement homes. They have this system called cuddle therapy. They said that it is actually good for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
As men collect cars or guns, then what is wrong with a woman collecting dolls? There are different perceptions about custom reborn babies but as long as they make you happy and feel good then it is good.