WHO BUYS REBORN DOLLS & LIFE LIKE BABY DOLLS ARTICLE
This is a question that gets asked a lot and I have read quite a bit of discussion on blogs and forums about this topic. I first heard about reborn dolls on a TV show and they looked really cool. I was looking for an idea for a new retail shop and when I checked out these dolls as a possibility, I fell in love with these beautiful little angels and was very impressed with the artistic talent of all the reborn artists who have learned over the past 10 years how to 'reborn' vinyl baby dolls into life like baby newborn dolls that often fool people into believing they were real babies.Reborn Dolls are purchased by five main groups of people with vastly different purposes. Of course there are no doubt hundreds more reasons to choose a reborn doll, but this article briefly explores the main five: OOAK doll collectors, children who love dolls, grieving adults who are going through challenging losses and are helped by having a surrogate baby to hold, Hollywood TV & Movie producers and finally, very elderly people who are living in care facilities or bedridden at home who find great comfort in holding a baby doll.
The first type of people who purchase reborn dolls are professional or hobby doll collectors. They buy and sell life like baby dolls as a business or sometimes just a hobby.Collectors will buy a unique Reborn Doll and then sell it later when it has become rare and more valuable. A high quality OOAK reborn doll sells for around $2,000 and can sell for as much as $5,000.00 for a really well done baby doll.
Reborn Doll collectors usually have quite a number of different dolls that they keep in mint condition to preserve the value. Many will display their dolls at doll show and on-line doll websites. There are many different Reborn Doll Guilds to belong to and be certified by if you want to become a professional reborn doll collector.
The second group is children who love to nurture. The realistic baby dolls are very popular with kids, boys and girls alike. Kids just love to love and the dolls are a perfect vehicle to spark the maternal and paternal imaginations of any child. All known cultures, from the most primitive to the ultra contemporary, have provided human baby figures for their children to play with. It is obvious that caring for a baby doll will help them to develop the bonding skills necessary to parent later in life. Today, our children are very fortunate to be able to play with the most life like realistic baby dolls ever made. Parents who buy a reborn doll for their child should note that not ALL reborn baby dolls are recommended for child play. Parents should always check with the doll seller or artist to see if a doll is suitable for a child.
The third kind of Reborn baby Doll Buyer are people who need emotional healing for themselves because they are suffering from the death of a baby, the shock of a stillbirth or even just the inability to have their own babies. I really feel with all my heart for these people. Theses agonized parents do benefit form holding and loving a life like baby doll; it seems to fill the void that is left when a life is taken. Not one of us, who hasn't been at a funeral to bury our child, should ever judge these parents. We can only imagine how painful life can suddenly and permanently turn, when you lose your child.
However, I do know this: it is an incredibly difficult life challenge just to keep on living after you have lost a child and any comfort or emotional healing that these beautiful little baby dolls can bring them is a blessing. Of course, there is nothing that anyone can do to change the agony of the loss in these peoples' mashed up lives. So much grief and such a huge void of unexpressed love; it can never really be fixed. But it can be helped. Love must have a path to return to the broken hearted, have an outlet for expression and a safe destination. If a realistic baby doll can offer that, then I am grateful to all the talented and professional reborn doll artists in the world that provide these little bundles of warmth, softness, charm & love.
Yes, they are just vinyl & cloth dolls perhaps, not real babies, but for the shattered heart of a grieving parent, they may be the way back to knowing that love has never left, never will leave, no matter what terrible thing has happened. Love will out wait anything every time. This is a core belief that is taken away along with the life of a child. Parents are left bereft, not only of their child, but of their belief in anything good in the whole world. Their hearts need a life line. That's where the baby dolls come in and God bless them all.
So please, if you think there is something somehow wrong with reborn dolls or that the people who buy them are warped, or any other negative judgment, please consider that powerful human emotions are at play here. Reborn Doll lovers all have their reasons; some of them are playful, others profiteering, and some grief filled and in need of some small comfort. No one is being hurt, many are finding help. It's all good!
Reborn dolls are also used by movie & television production crews. There is no longer any need to risk using real babies as actors in Hollywood productions; a life like doll will never cause a delay on set! They are always ready to be perfect little angels, any time, any place.
The final group is something new that a visitor to my site emailed me about: Elderly grandparents who are lonely, bedridden or in care homes get a great deal of comfort by hugging, holding, talking & singing to a life like baby doll. I tried one with my Dad recently and even though he had been a real macho man in his younger years, he loves that little baby doll - he has even named it Mary and asks for his baby every day.
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