NEWS - WANN MAKE A BABY: SPIELBRGS PROPOSAL TO TOOWOOMBA MUM

Wanna make a baby: Spielberg's proposal to Toowoomba mum 

 

Chris Calcino

December 16, 2011


When Toowoomba mother Natalya Edsen was asked to make a baby for Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, she was torn between laughing and hanging up the phone.
Luckily, she heard her mystery caller out and the Kumiko Kids Reborn Nursery owner discovered she was destined to be a baby-maker for the stars.
"Out of the blue, I got a call asking me to design a 'reborn' doll for [hit TV show] Terra Nova. I was in the middle of a shopping centre. My mum came out of the shops, saw my face and asked me what was wrong. When I told her I was making a baby for Steven Spielberg, she couldn't believe it,'' she said.

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The Toowoomba mother has built a career on custom-making some of the most realistic dolls in the country and she jumped at the chance to see one of her bundles of joy on the small screen, working tirelessly to meet her four-day deadline.
"I was just hoping she wouldn't be eaten by a dinosaur! I still don't know if she will make another appearance, but I hope so. It's funny; I had never even heard of Terra Nova before they called me. Now I have to watch every episode, just in case,'' she said.

ARTICLE - RDK (Reborn Doll Kits) OWNER CINDY KOLSHEEN HAS BEEN EXPOSED DEFRAUDING REBORN ARTISTS AROUND THE WORLD

RDK ( Reborn Doll Kits ) owner Cindy Kolsheen has been exposed in a American TV News report as having defrauded Reborn artists around the world....Read on to find out more...

Reborn Doll Kits Inc

 

American television station Action 3 News has blown open a case involving American doll suppliers Reborn Doll Kits and their owner Cindy Kolsheen.
Kolsheen has been involved with the "Better Business Bureau" in over 20 cases in the past and the bureau´s President Jim Hegarty commented that customers should pay attention to "The ultimate warning that you should proceed with extreme caution if you do business with a company with a rating such as this"Hegarty continues to mention that complaints started coming in back in 2008 and said "The company has not been responsive to any complaints that we have brought to its attention"
Further complaints of fraud have flooded in against Kolsheen from as far away as Australia and Costa Rica after customers paid for their products and did not receive them.
When confronted about the allegations Cindy Kolsheen commented that she "told the Better Business Bureau that I was was not going to give them the time of day to answer those complaints"
We urge all to voice their own experiences and feel free to send us an email by
clicking here These experiences can be confidential if required.
To see the full exposé video click here to visit the Action 3 News report.

ARTICLE - THINGS THAT KINDA FREAK ME OUT: REBORN DOLLS

Things That Kinda Freak Me Out: Reborn Dolls

For those of you who don't know, a “reborn” doll is a baby doll that's made to look as realistic as possible. So much so that on at least two separate occasions, police officers have broken into locked cars to rescue what turned out to be a toy.

 These dolls are made from vinyl, painted to look like real baby skin. This is achieved by painting the inside of the doll blue, and the outside flesh-colored. Real hairs or mohairs are threaded into the scalp, one at a time. The doll might be weighted, as appropriate for its “age,” and some will have magnets inside the head or mouth for attaching hair bows or pacifiers. Some reborn dolls are heated, make baby sounds, or have gadgets inside them that simulate breathing and a heartbeat. A really fancy reborn doll can cost thousands of dollars. They are sometimes called “living dolls” or, even creepier, “unliving dolls.”

 

Artists began making these creepy little critters in about 1990. Apparently, the doll collecting community wasn't happy with your standard dead porcelain eyes anymore, and wanted something even more soul-destroying. The International Reborn Doll Artists (IRDA) club was born (pun intended).

Some people simply collect them, like you'd collect any doll. While this may not be the wisest use of a n adult person's money, it's not that unusual.

Other people, however, have taken this way, way overboard, and actually treat the dolls just like they're real babies, except, I guess, for the “leaving them alone in a locked car” part.

 

 

Reborn dolls come with birth certificates and adoption papers. You can have your doll handcrafted to resemble the baby your grown child used to be, just in case that grown child still loves you at all. Or, you can have the reborn doll handcrafted to resemble your dead or miscarried baby, because nothing says “moving on” like taking a replica of your dead child everywhere you go.

Scientists believe that holding a real baby causes people to release bonding hormones, such as oxytocin, and they suspect that holding reborn dolls may have the same effect. Doctors in the UK have used them to soothe elderly patients. Some psychiatrists support the use of reborn dolls as part of the grieving process for bereaved parents. Others, however, think that's the stupidest thing they've ever heard.

There's some concern that the use of such a doll could inspire the mentally unsound to kidnap a real baby. Others point out that owners of these dolls can easily wreak havoc in social situations by carrying, changing, and, I'd imagine, attempting to feed a piece of plastic.

 

 One lady told Reuters that she bought a reborn doll because her (living) child wanted a sibling and she, the mother, didn't feel like having any more children. When I asked for a little sister or brother, my mother said “No,” and bought me a puppy.

 

 Some women presumably buy these dolls because they don't want a real baby, what with all the puking, screaming and sh*tting real babies tend to do. Those who carry these dolls in public say they enjoy the positive feedback from strangers, who compliment the “baby's” good behavior. I'd like to know how many of these women respond, “Of course it's well-behaved, it's a doll.”

 

 Honestly, though, these things are freakin' creepy. I'm not the only one who thinks so. Harrod's has refused to stock them, on the grounds that they might come to life at night and kill the janitor.

 

 

ARTICLE - IM BESOTTED WITH MY FAKE BABIES

I’m besotted with my fake babies

Mum treats dolls
like real children

By NIKKI WATKINS

CRADLING little Amy in her arms, doting Rachel Stephens gently places the baby into her Moses basket.

But she has no fear of being woken in the night by the little one — because the tiny bundle is a DOLL.
Rachel, 44, is one of a community in the UK who care for the ultra-realistic imitation babies known as "Reborns".
She was warned by doctors that polycystic kidney disease meant her body was not strong enough to cope with another pregnancy after she had her second child.
Rachel was devastated she would never again have a newborn to cuddle, so she turned to a fake baby instead.
Amy cost £300 and Rachel treats her as she would a real baby, taking her for walks in her pram — and she even considered expressing milk to feed her.
Rachel's own children feel jealous of the baby and her husband David* will not touch Amy, though Rachel insists she will never give up her fake child.
The full-time mum says: "When I first held Amy at a dolls' fair it was one of the happiest moments of my life.
"I've always been a maternal woman. Even as a child I adored babies and I bought my first Mother And Baby magazine when I was just 13.
"I met my husband when I was 19. He was my first boyfriend. We married four years later and it seemed natural to have kids straight away.
"I lost my first baby. It was an awful experience but then I fell pregnant again and this time it all went to plan. I felt like I was floating on air."
Rachel, from Liphook in Hampshire, gave birth to Toby*, who is now 15.
She adds: "Breastfeeding came naturally to me, as did night feeds and changing nappies.
"Just as Toby was being weaned, I fell pregnant with Rebecca. This was perfect as it meant I had another baby to breastfeed which I loved. I enjoyed motherhood so much I planned on having six babies."
But after the birth of Rebecca, now 13, doctors told Rachel she should not have another pregnancy as it would put her kidneys under too much strain.
She says: "I was devastated to be told not to have any more children. I am so broody that even now, in my forties, a baby crying in a supermarket or me holding baby clothes will make me produce milk."
As Rachel was fretting over no longer having babies to look after, she saw a TV programme about Reborn dolls.

She says: "The presenter shocked me by explaining that the gorgeous eight-month-old girl with peachy skin was actually a doll.
"I was mesmerised as she was so realistic — painstakingly modelled and painted by hand to look and feel just like a real baby.
"Each hair had been added individually to her head and eyelids and she was painted with veins before layers of paint were added to build up the skin tones. I discovered each doll has fingernails, milk spots, flaky skin and downy baby hair.
"One woman was filmed sitting on a park bench cuddling her Reborn doll and anyone passing would have mistaken it for an actual baby. She looked so happy and I knew then and there that I wanted one for myself.
"I began scrimping and saving and even selling some of my belongings, including my pet guinea pigs, to pay for a doll without dipping into family funds." Five months ago Rachel had finally saved enough and went to a dolls' fayre in Peterborough, Cambs.

Walkies in the pram ... Rachel with one of her Reborns

She says: "I picked up the doll I had my heart set on and rocking baby Amy in my arms I felt a wave of love wash over me.
"I gazed at her perfect newborn skin, tiny fingers and downy hair and never wanted to put her down. I told the woman behind the stall this tot was the one and paid her the £300.
"I was over the moon as I carefully placed Amy in her new baby clothes and gently cuddled her against my chest in her baby sling.
"On the bus home the driver cooed over her and said how gorgeous she was.
"I smiled proudly but confessed she wasn't real. The driver looked confused, as though she didn't quite believe me.
"A couple who started cooing over Amy at the train station were equally shocked when I revealed she was a doll. At home the reaction was less positive. My husband was horrified and refused to look at Amy and the children were just as appalled.
"Rebecca even asked, 'Aren't we enough for you?' Her words hurt but I explained that loving Amy didn't mean I loved them any less.
"I'm aware Amy is a doll but when I rock her in my arms I feel so happy as nothing compares to holding a newborn. I even got Amy into the routine of a new-born and considered expressing milk to feed to her but realised it would just dribble down her chin.
"She sleeps in a crib at the foot of my bed, I get her dressed in the morning from the pile of outfits I have for her in her own chest and take her out in her pram alongside the other mums. If it's cold I wrap her up warm.
My family's attitude has not softened in the five months Amy has lived with us. Rebecca hates me taking her outside and refuses to come with me when I push her to the shops.
"But since getting Amy I've become even more obsessed with Reborns and recently bought a toddler doll who I call Abby. My children hate Abby even more than Amy.
"My son says she scares him and on a couple of occasions they've insisted I put her outside in the wendy house for the night.
"I don't like to see my children distressed but I'm not going to let their disgust stop me from adding to my collection.
"Eventually I'd love a room of cribs filled with Reborn dolls.
"My love for them isn't hurting anyone, so where's the harm?"
* Names have been changed

ARTICLE - MOM BUYS REALISTIC BABY DOLL, TREATS IT LIKE A REAL BABY

Mom Buys Realistic Baby Doll, Treats it Like a Real Baby

By Sumitra on December 9th, 2011


36-Year-Old Ashleigh Kirby is obsessed with her new-born baby, Finlay. Only, Finlay isn’t a real boy. In a story that strongly reminds us of Pinocchio, Ashleigh is emotionally attached to a realistic, life-size baby doll, even more than with her own daughter when she was born.
Ashleigh lives with her 12-year-old daughter Becky in Andover, Hampshire. She separated from her partner when Becky was just five. After trying several years, she lost hope that she would ever find a suitable man and have babies again. Describing herself as strongly maternal, she wanted to have a baby in the house at any cost. When Ashleigh came across the ‘reborn’ dolls online, she immediately placed an order for one, priced at £250. She has since spent hundreds of pounds on the doll, on clothing, nappies and more. She takes the doll out to the park for a walk in a stroller, cuddles with it and even takes it shopping, treating it just like a real baby. Sometimes other women come over to her to see the baby, mistaking it for a real one. Ashleigh says she just plays along.

 If you’re wondering why she couldn’t have just adopted another baby, she has answers for that too. Ashleigh says she’s too lazy to go through the process of adoption and she did not want all the worry and anxiety associated with a real baby. With Finlay, it’s always cuddle time. The doll sleeps in her room on a cot that takes up most of the space. Becky, her daughter, does admit that the whole business is rather creepy and hides her ‘brother’ from her friends. “I don’t really understand it. I don’t think Mum prefers Finlay, but she can’t give me all the attention like she used to.”

The dolls are created by artist Yvonne Walters, who is regularly contacted by people who want to use them as a substitute for real babies and even to replace babies that have died. She says she doesn’t understand it herself, but it’s okay if it provides solace to people. Customers get to design their own dolls, that are made of glass beads or steel shots to make them feel as real as possible. Each hair is added individually to the head, taking 40 hours to complete. Veins, fingernails, milks spots, flaky skin and baby hair are all painstakingly created.
Ashleigh is an unemployed mom claiming £13,000 ($20,000) a year in terms of benefits. She has spent most of it on Finlay, and now plans to get him a companion, an older girl-doll called Summer. If only she could find a fairy-god mother to make the babies real.

ARTICLE - ARTIST YVONNEs LIFELIKE DOLLS ARE 'REBORN' AS SUBSTITUTE BABIES

Artist Yvonne's lifelike dolls are 'reborn' as substitute babies

 Wednesday, December 07, 2011

 

A Westcountry artist who makes incredibly lifelike dolls says she is regularly contacted by people wanting to use them as a substitute for real babies – and even to replace dead ones.
The dolls each take four weeks to make and their bodies are weighted with glass beads or steel shots to make them feel as life-like as possible.

Each hair is meticulously added individually to the baby's head and eyelids, which can take 40 hours to complete.
The dolls are then painted with veins and then layer upon layer of paint to build up the skin tones to give them a realistic look before being placed in a kiln to set.
Each "reborn" has fingernails, milk spots, flaky skin and downy baby hair, and can weigh up to 9lbs.
Artist Yvonne Walters, 56, who makes the dolls in Newquay, said: "Some people find having the dolls therapeutic while others send pictures of babies that mean something to them. I can generally make one that's similar.
"I've been approached by women who have lost babies and want a doll to remember them by."
Yvonne, who also runs a guest house in Newquay, sells the dolls for thousands of pounds at a time and makes them by placing them in the oven, which acts as a kiln.
She added: "I don't understand it myself but if people take solace in them then that's OK as far as I'm concerned.
"The aim for me is to make them come alive."

ARTICLE -SHE CANT GIVE ME ALL THE ATTENTION LIKE SHE USED TO: MOTHER SPENDS MORE TIME WITH FAKE BABY DOLL THAN HER OWN DAUGHTER

'She can't give me all the attention like she used to': Mother spends more time with £250 'baby' doll than her own daughter

By Daily Mail Reporter

 6th December 2011

Ashleigh Kirby looks like any other proud mother pushing a pram through her local park.
But the 'son' she keeps wrapped up to ward off the cold is actually an incredibly lifelike doll.
The 36-year-old, from Andover in Hampshire, also takes Finlay shopping, regularly changes his nappies and has spent hundreds of pounds on clothes for the £250 'Reborn' she bought online. 

She has the doll - made to replicate a new-born - sleeping in a cot in her bedroom, where she keeps Finlay's tiny clothes in a specially-bought wardrobe.
Ashleigh, who already has a 12-year daughter Becky, bought the doll six months ago after splitting up with her partner made her fear she would never have children again.
She is now planning to 'expand' her family, with another doll to keep the first company, which she is planning to call Summer. 
Ashleigh said she thought about adopting after separating from her partner but was 'too lazy'.

She added: 'I always thought something was missing in my life and, when I saw the babies, immediately I knew what it was.
'The dolls are a substitute for me. I am very maternal. I bought Finlay six months ago for £250 from a lady I found online. 
'Half of my bedroom is taken up by his cot and I also have a pram, a car seat and a wardrobe of clothes. 
'He wears a nappy which I change - although not as regularly as you would a real baby. 
'I'd have liked to have met another man and had a brood of kids, but life didn't work out like that.

'I considered adoption, but I'm too lazy to go through the process. Real children are hard work - you worry all the time. With Finlay, it's cuddle time all the time.'
Ashleigh, who separated from Becky's father when she was just five, was desperate to add to her family but was worried about finding the right man. 

She took the drastic step of buying the incredibly lifelike doll - called 'reborns' - after watching a documentary. 
Unemployed  Ashleigh - who claims £13,000 a year in benefits - spent months painstakingly researching and designing the perfect doll. 
The dolls take four weeks to make and arrive in plastic kits of a head and four limbs - like Airfix models. The body is weighted with glass beads or steel shots to make it feel as life-like as possible.  Each hair is meticulously added individually to the baby's head and eyelids, which can take 40 hours to complete.
he dolls are then painted with veins and then layer upon layer of paint to build up the skin tones to give it a realistic look before being placed in a kiln to set.  Each 'reborn' has fingernails, milk spots, flaky skin and downy baby hair, and can weigh up to 9lbs. 
Ashleigh spent months worrying about minute details such as Finlay's red new-born skin tones and mousy blond hair.  And now she walks alongside other mothers in her local park, where people regularly approach her and coo over her baby boy, assuming he's real. 
She added: 'Sometimes I just play along with it. Looking at Finlay for the first time, there was a stronger bond than I had with Becky. 
'There was an immediate rush of love. With Becky, I was so tired after the birth I didn't feel as close to her.'
Becky admits she has hidden her 'brother' from classmates and says she finds her mum's obsession 'weird'. 

She said: 'I find it creepy - I don't really understand it. I don't think mum prefers Finlay, but she can't give me all the attention like she used to.'
Ashleigh is now 'expecting' another baby - a three-month-old girl she will call Summer, who will also cost £250. 
She said: 'I can't wait to have a baby girl in the flat. I wanted a slightly older baby as Finlay is very much new born.
'Summer will have long blond hair, I have seen pictures and she looks gorgeous. 
'As she is a girl I am sure she will be spoilt with lots of new clothes.'
Artist Yvonne Walters, 56, who makes the dolls in Newquay, Cornwall said she is regularly contacted by people wanting to use them as a substitute for real babies and even to replace dead ones. 

She said: 'Some people find having the dolls therapeutic while others send pictures of babies that mean something to them. I can generally make one that's similar.
'I've been approached by women who have lost babies and want a doll to remember them by.'
Yvonne, who also runs a guest house in Newquay, sells the dolls for thousands at a time and makes them by placing them in the oven, which acts as a kiln. 
She added: 'I don't understand it myself but if people take solace in them then that's OK as far as I'm concerned.  The aim for me is to make them come alive.'