I finished reborning little Zoe on Saturday night and so she was ready to go out into the world yesterday and what a hilarious experience it was!!

My family took Zoe shopping, each taking turns to cuddle her and she was really drawing a lot of attention! We had people gasping and gushing over her, shocked mostly by the size of this tiny 'new baby' out shopping already and being held by her big sisters! One women commented what a responsible girl my nine year old was holding her baby sister and asked if she could stroke Zoe's head! She was so shocked to discover that Zoe was actually a dolly! My daughters were so proud carrying Zoe around, showing her off. This Reborn has had the most amazing effect on my family, it's been really interesting. We all feel totally besotted with her. Even my husband walked into the loungeroom lastnigth holding Zoe wrapped in a warm blanket, patting her bottom LOL

I have taken loads of pictures and will post them as soon as I can.

This is so much fun!

The reaction from people is really interesing isnt it, and yes even guys treat these dolls like they are real kids or like they will break lol.
You sound like you are really enjoying the art which is fantastic.
Cheers

hehe its fantastic to hear your story I have mixed feeling about taking them out i have one complete and i have only shown my family and my neighbour i'm just a bit worried about comming across the "negative" reactions unfortunately alot of people see this hobby as something "weird" if only we lived in a world where people didn't try to force their opinions on others it would be the perfect place hey lol

Yeh I know some people are just rediculous.

I did a speech the other day (about reborn) for the local V.I.C.E club to be honest I cant remember what it stood for but they collect money for the smith family what wonderful human beings honestly.
My husband Bill and I enjoyed ourselves (they enjoyed having a younger male there ) there were about 70-80 women and out of them I got about 5-6 women who would not even touch them I said to one lady the fact of the matter is they are just dolls didn't matter she still didn't touch them.

All the best

I take mine out sometimes to see the reaction. it is a good test run when I have finished a baby to see if people think it is real or not lol.
cheers

I agree, andama. If people are fooled then, yay, that's a job well done!

I got my first order for a Reborn yesterday. My daughters and I took Zoe shopping and a shop owner asked how old out baby was. I told her she was a doll and she was gob smacked lol. She said she just had to have one. So it looks like this will become a small business for my girls and I which is pretty exciting. I can't wait to sculpt my own doll! That's when the fun will relaly start!

As far as other people's reactions go, I am yet to encounter negativity but I am sure it will happen sooner or later. I won't let it bother me. SO many choices I make in life other people do not agree with anyway so I am use to opposition. That's a part of life.

Dianna, somethine we have to keep in mind about these dolls is that they are extremely life like STILL dolls. When you wrote about some women in the nursing home not feeling comfortable holding the dolls, perhaps in the past, some of them had lost a baby. Being the time when they would have had their children, death amongst babies was not uncommon. Perhaps some of these 'Still Babies' raised unpleasant memories for them. I have a dear friend who had a stillbirth at 39 weeks pregnant and I am hesitant about showing her my dolls for fear of a bad reaction. We need to be sensitive to the fact that some people just won't feel comfortable with these dolls and I feel that that needs to be respected.

Lotus,

It wasn't a nursing home I did the speech at it was to help raise money for the Smith Family.

It wasn't the first speech I have done nor will it be my last
I HAVE been reborning for a number of YEARS........

I have met people that get upset because they have lost a newborn or had a still birth some deal with it better than others....
My first Child was a twin one died and one survived she is now 25 years old
So I do have an understanding here I am not stupid.

I too would be cautious when showing your friend these dolls some do not handle it well at all.

IT is very hard to have a still birth or a baby die I couldn't agree more but this was not the case where these ladies were concerned I assure you We had a wonderful talk they just didn't like the fact that they looked so real.


I have been asked a number of times to reproduce a deceased baby I WILL NOT do this that is where I draw the line.

I have asked professional people in the field Midwife , doctors etc and they have all said it would be best not to reproduce a deceased child.

And let me also say there is a lot of ART out there I do not like and would never buy because I am offended or repelled by it we are all different I totally agree but I have enough respect not to carry on about it and move along to the next peice of art to see if I enjoy it more.

All the best

lol, sorry, i speed read your post and somehow the 70-80 women part processed as 70-80 year olds, hahah!

QUOTE: So I do have an understanding here I am not stupid.

Woah! I never said nor implied that you were stupid!!! I was merely speculating as to why it would be that some poeple may be apprehansive about the dolls as this seems to be a common topic of discussion among rebon artists. If we can't talk about these things without becoming rude and defensive, then why post on a forum?

Well guys,
That was interesting reading. So where to begin.
FORUM or at least this forum is here so we can share, be it good or bad when it comes to this art form, and we should be able to say what we feel. Everyone has their views and they have the right to that point of view.
I personally feel with reborning that we who create them are in a win win situation as people either like these dolls or dislike them but for the same reason and that is the realistic look of them. I would say that was about the best result we could have with this hobby.
We all make them for differant reasons whatever they may be but we all love making them thats for sure. What we do with them after we make them or where they go depends on us.
I guess we have differant ways at looking at everything and lets be truthful here if we all agreed on everything then life would be very dull. So lets hear from others and how they feel about the subject.
I will of course be adding my 2 cents worth later on as well so stay tuned lol.
Cheers