NEWS - MUM CREATES NEW LIFE WITH DOLLS

Mum creates new life with dolls

Chris Calcino | 28th July 2011

A fascination with dolls has led to a lucrative career for Kumiko Kids Reborn Nursery owner Natalya Edsen.

Bev Lacey

ALL it took was a trip to the markets and Natalya Edsen knew she was destined to make babies.
A stall laden with alarmingly realistic “reborn dolls” stood out from the wind chimes and bric-a-brac, and she was hooked.
The Toowoomba mother has built a career on one of the stranger trends to sweep the country — adult women opting for intricate fake babies over the real thing.
“Business is booming. I’m completely booked with orders until October,” she said.
Operating out of a “nursery” in her home, Ms Edsen spends hours each day bringing her dolls to life.
With some fetching $800 price tags, they have to do everything a baby does — except cry.
“One doll can easily take up to a week, working constantly,” she said.
“Each hair goes in, strand by strand, and the dolls have to be baked between each layer of water-thin paint.”
It is not just girls and clucky mothers who employ Ms Edsen’s services.
Her award winning dolls have been used as therapy for alzheimers and dementia patients, as well as mothers who have lost a child.
“The strangest thing was doing my first replica of a baby who died,” she said.
“I was so worried about it, but the mother was over the moon. It made me really proud to know I’d made someone so happy.”
She also runs classes for would-be mothers who want to build their bub from scratch.
“If I haven’t made a baby in a week, I get withdrawal symptoms,” she said.
“They’re very addictive and they’re just so cute!”