These moms love babies that never throw up or grow up
It’s 1 a.m. and the baby’s fussing. Stephanie Ortiz rises from bed, groggy, tired. Royal needs his diaper changed. Methodically, and like a good mom, Ortiz takes off her baby’s onesie and diaper. As she lifts Royal’s leg — pop! It comes clean off his body. “You don’t see that every day!” she laughs joyfully into the camera, holding the leg in her hand.
Welcome to the world of Reborn dolls.
The Reborn community is a tight-knit, creative class of mostly women who create, collect and role-play with dolls that look so much like real babies, they’re spooky and beautiful all at once.
Go to YouTube and search “Reborn doll” and you’ll find more than 90,000 videos from people of all ages showing off their incredibly realistic, hand-painted dolls and role-playing with them in ways that feel both playful and intensely intimate.