We worked with the lovely Silvia and shared her unusual story about how she's mum to 35 babies... and counting! We placed it in Australia's That's Life magazine for her and secured her a generous fee.
Silvia had her eldest daughter when she was 19, followed by her second daughter five years later. She really missed them being babies, but wasn’t going to have more children, so her girls had an idea…
‘I got my first reborn doll from my two daughters, Veronika, 23, and Sofia, 18. It was my 40th birthday when the doorbell rang and I opened the door to find a basket on the floor with a reborn. She was called Isabella and had a little card that said: ‘Will you take care of me?’ I fell in love with her straightaway and that's how my collection started.
It means Silvia can constantly be surrounded by babies and keep expanding her family, without actually giving birth.
‘I treat them like real babies and love it that they will never grow up. I feel a special bond towards them and change their nappies and their clothes, feed them, bath them and take them for adventures. I like to take them everywhere with us, usually in a buggy or baby carrier, and have a sticker for my car saying we have reborns on board.’
‘My reborns have been horse-riding with me and my daughters, rock-climbing, in a hot-air balloon, I take them to the beach, to the zoo, out shopping with us, camping, to the cinema and on holiday. I usually take one or two reborns with me and they sit with me on the plane. They also occasionally join us for dinner in restaurants, depending on the occasion.’
‘People often think they are real and when I tell them they’re dolls they can't believe it and want to touch them or hold them.
I take photos of all my reborns and then stick them in their own photo albums, along with baby scans for each of them – I just find the scans on the internet and include them in the books.
I also make reborns now so I literally spent every single day with them. I’m so lucky that my work is also my hobby.
So far, I’ve spent around £7,500 on my beloved reborns and am willing to spend more. I’m always ‘reborn pregnant’ – I always want another one!
It’s not just ‘normal’ babies I have though, I created a conjoined twins reborn for my daughter and named it Kendall and Kylie, I have an Avatar baby and also a monkey called Bindi who also goes on adventures with us.’
Silvia has recently ordered a French Bulldog reborn and a piglet kit too, and can’t wait to meet them both.
‘Some of my friends don’t understand my passion for reborns and wonder why I don’t just sell them, but I love them too much. I want to urge other reborn mums to take their babies out with the, Don’t be scared of what people will say. Reborn dolls can bring so many people happiness. Do what makes you happy.’