Reborn doll

A reborn doll is a hand made art doll that resembles a human infant with as much realism as possible. The process of creating a reborn doll is referred to as reborning and the doll artists are referred to as reborners. Reborn dolls may be created from a blank kit or from a manufactured doll and are also known as lifelike dolls or reborn baby dolls.

The hobby of creating reborn baby dolls began in the early 1990s when doll enthusiasts wanted more realistic dolls. Since then, an industry and community surrounding reborn dolls has emerged. Reborn dolls are primarily purchased online but can be available at fairs. Depending on craftsmanship, they range in price from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars.

Reborning involves numerous time-consuming steps. The most basic form of the process involves taking a vinyl doll, adding multiple hand painted layers of paint, and adding other physical features to the doll. Artists can pick different brands to best suit the doll they wish to create. Consumers can also buy reborn doll kits that include the doll parts and supplies for creating their own reborn. Making a doll from a kit is called newborning and allows artists to omit some steps in the fabrication process. Many supplies are needed for both external and internal modifications of reborns to make the doll seem more realistic.

Some consumers of reborn dolls use them to cope with their grief over a lost child (a memory reborn), or as a portrait doll of a grown child. Others collect reborns as they would regular dolls. These dolls are sometimes played with as if they are an infant. Critics debate whether reborn dolls are harmful, or whether these dolls can help in the grieving process but have social consequences which make the idea taboo to some cultures. Because of their realistic appearance, reborn dolls have occasionally been mistaken for real babies and "rescued" from parked cars after being reported to the police by passers-by.