Fake Reborn Baby Fans: 'I Know I'm Not a Real Mother'

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Collectors of these lifelike dolls are being violently attacked on social media, where they are portraying themselves. Fans, who are accused of occupying public space, denounce an outpouring of unjustified hatred and defend a "harmless" game.

Reborn dolls are ultra-realistic dolls that look just like babies. (Nelson Almeida/AFP)

On TikTok, Thérèse's nursery has all the makings of a real one: strollers, cribs, and plenty of baby-sized clothes... Yet, it's all staged. The 56-year-old from the North is a fan of "reborns," ultra-realistic dolls that look just like babies. The fifty-year-old " satisfies her desire to play " on the platform, a passion that doesn't leave internet users indifferent: the many comments under her videos are mostly insults. The "reborners," as they call themselves, are castigated. Strollers on the bus, priority queues... These women are said to be occupying public space instead of real mothers. Behind this criticism, which they say is unjustified, the phenomenon fascinates, and the extreme realism of the dolls arouses a certain unease, with their hand-painted veins and hair implanted one by one.

Whether a movie prop or a therapeutic tool , the origins of reborn dolls are unclear. "Reborners," those who "rebirth" dolls by painting them, have existed since the 1990s. While the practice arrived in Europe in the 2000s, TikTok seems to be having a magnifying effect. Videos featuring reborn dolls are multiplying, in staged settings