A woman who turned to roleplaying with hyper-realistic dolls “to help (her) cope” with the death of her first baby – and continues to do so with her husband and two rainbow babies – has said her husband’s parents disapproved of the hobby and fired him from the family business as a result.
Christina Keeler, 38, a stay-at-home mum and YouTuber, from Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, USA, fell pregnant with her first “miracle” baby in 2015, despite having endometriosis and being told she would not be able to conceive in her 20s.
She suffered a miscarriage, but after watching a documentary about so-called reborn dolls, she had a “lightbulb moment” and realised getting a hyper-realistic doll would be the “perfect solution”.
Christina’s husband Bill, 43, was “hesitant” at first but became supportive after he saw how much it “helped (her) grief”.
The couple went on to have two “miracle” daughters, Grace, six, and Joy, four, who now help feed, change and dress the family’s five reborn dolls – which cost between £1,560 and £3,899 each – in their “nursery” complete with “a crib and a wardrobe”.
The family often take the dolls out in public, and have shared their journey on YouTube – where Christina documents people’s reactions to her dolls and birthing videos. Some silicone dolls come in a fake womb which allows a Caesarean section to be performed at home.
But Bill’s family were “disgusted” with the hobby, to the point where they gave him a choice to stop having the dolls or leave the family business.
He refused to shut down the YouTube channel and did not want Christina to give up her hobby, so he was fired.
She fell pregnant with her first baby in 2015, a year after her mother died of cancer.
The couple were “elated” about the pregnancy because Christina had been told in her twenties that she would not be able to conceive because she has endometriosis, but she miscarried at eight weeks.
Christina told PA Real Life: “When we lost the baby it was so devastating, I remember lying in the hospital bed after they had taken the baby out of my belly, and screaming for my mum and wept wanting to cuddle my baby.”
She “really struggled” with the grief of losing her mother and her baby so close together.
She explained: “This feeling of sorrow just never went away, it was so painful that I never talked about it again.”
Christina turned to roleplaying with her collection of hyper-realistic dolls to cope with the death of her first baby (Collect/PA Real Life)
Despite having her two “miracle” children Grace and Joy, Christina still longed to hold her first baby, and after watching a documentary about reborn dolls, she wanted to get one to see if it would help her grief.
She said: “I felt so blessed to have two healthy girls, but that feeling of missing the first baby never quite went away.
“When my youngest was around two years old, my husband and I came across a documentary about reborn dolls.
“And he was like, ‘That’s really weird’, and I played it off that I thought the same, but actually I really wanted one to help me cope and I thought it would be the perfect solution.”
After persuading her husband, Christina ordered her first lifelike doll, Hannah, costing her around £155.
She said: “I told my husband and he was not on board at all, he was hesitant, but after explaining my reasoning, he was much more understanding and more accepting.”
When the doll arrived, Christina instantly felt like it helped with her mourning.
She said: “It helped me therapeutically because for the first time ever when I got my first reborn doll, I was able to talk about the loss of our baby.
“And since then I have healed tremendously from that loss because I’m able to talk about it and share my story and help others – it helped my grief, for sure.”
Christina now has a collection of five dolls called Carter, Cadence, Quinn, Isabella and Sammy, which she loves to dress, cuddle and feed.
She takes the dolls out in public and people often mistake them for real babies.
She said: “We have a nursery for them with a crib and a wardrobe. I check on them throughout the day, and on other days, especially when the girls want to get involved, I pick out an outfit for them, bring them to breakfast, get them to feed them a bottle, change them.
“If we’re running errands we often take them out with us and put them in a car seat and stroller.”
Christina and her family have been sharing their experiences on YouTube, where they are known as The Reborn Family.
She said: “I make videos about people’s reactions to my dolls, as well as vlogs and birthing videos – I have some silicone reborn dolls which come in a womb and you perform a C-section on it at home, to give birth to the baby.”
Despite her immediate family being supportive of the hobby, Christina admits not everyone in her wider family understands.
She said: “My husband’s family were, and still are, disapproving of the reborns, even though they can see how much they helped me. They were disgusted.
“We moved from California to Pennsylvania because my husband was next in line to take over the family business because they were about to retire, and they asked if we would like to do so and we agreed.
“When they were on vacation they came across our YouTube channel, and they called us up and they were mortified and so embarrassed, and said we were ruining the family name.”
When Bill’s parents came home, they gave him an ultimatum to stop having the dolls.
Christina explained: “Bill said that he was not going to quit his job, and didn’t want me to stop having reborns because they were so therapeutic for me at the time, and his dad said, ‘Well, then you’re fired’.”
My husband’s family were disgusted, they said we were ruining the family name
Bill’s father was contacted for comment, but he had not responded at the time of publication.
Even though her reborns have caused tension in the family, Christina cannot see herself giving up her hobby any time soon.
She said: “Reborns continue to help me with my grief, and I love sharing content with other people who have lost babies, and they can also really help people with dementia, people who are infertile, people with anxiety and depression, I wouldn’t want to stop this.”
