The Best Online Reborn Help Forum!

You bet.

I think the media's portrayal of reborn collectors has a lot to do with the negative responses you sometimes see from the public at large. Internet comments can be especially cruel and tend to be loaded with assumptions. 

Spot on Pat! I did take the survey, answering what applied. I don't collect either but started reborning because I did want one, but only because I have a love for dolls. As you would see in my bio it was hard as a child to find a baby that LOOKED like a baby, so when I saw the documentary I thought the workmanship was incredible and wanted to give it a try. Not to mention to be completely honest, I'm the type of person that if something is expensive and beyond my budget, I will attempt to make it myself.

Your questions were pretty good. They were typical questions that really do apply to many collectors. The media is infamous for taking something harmless and creating a monster out of it. I find that if there isn't any money in it for them or their sponsors they tend to show it in a bad light.

As many know I find it no different than when men collect their various treasures, be it cars, trains, coins, whatever. No one says anything about them or the people who make those things. People who dress up and go to ComicCon or a role play convention are not chastised for what they do, but reborn artists and collectors are called a "cult". It is rediculous the double standard that is out there.

I feel people have the right to do what they want and if a reborn/neborn baby doll gives them piece of mind then so be it. If there is a woman who lost a child and have a reborn helps her to grieve so she can function then so be it. Cuddle therapy, so be it. There are downsides for some I know and they can become obsessed but that is so in any situation. As always, when a man does something it is cool. When a woman does it, she must be under some type of mental stress. Blah!

Sorry for the lecture, just tired of the media and uninformed.

Yes Emily, I hear what you are saying and agree. It usually depends on who the person is, what they are doing, and the opinion of the person that is watching. It's all subjective.

knitmomdolls wrote:

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When they go on and on about the process of how they are created being creepy, I want to ask them how they think dolls are created in factories? They have to put the pieces together and poke the hair in their. What is so wrong with people who want to make a doll from scratch themselves. That is all reborners are doing, but just taking it a step further and customizing the doll fully to make it the ultimate in realism. It's like what men to when they take a car and customize it....but no, we are nutty.

 

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I hear you. In one of the TV interviews -- I think it was on NBC -- the journalist opened up a reborner's supply cupboard and got the willies. Said something like, "Don't all those staring baby heads creep you out?" And I just wanted to roll my eyes. They're not baby heads, they're blank doll parts. Yet reborn devotees are the ones with the reputation for having a questionable grip on reality. There's definitely a double-standard.

I think there's also a stigma attached to dolls that other toys don't have. I wouldn't hesitate much to pack my decades-old teddy bear for an extended stay away from home. Not many people will question your emotional stability for something like that. But if I were to bring a reborn, or even a regular play doll along instead? Just imagine the raised eyebrows...

Is there anyplace else you'd recommend I post my survey link? The responses so far have been great, and I'd really like to get a large pool of collectors to continue weighing in. 

I think I'm going to try contacting Selena Saxon tonight to see if she'd be ok with me posting the link on her Facebook page. So far she's the only reborner I've connected with on FB.

You might try googling some of the other doll forums and contact their moderators.

the person that gave the negative response, were they from a reborn forum, website, or ??

Thought you might be interested in some of the stats I've gathered so far:

100% of respondents so far have been female

51-60 is the most common age bracket (33%)

31% of respondents interact with their reborns on a daily basis

56% report spending less than 15 minutes per day with their reborns (the 20% who spend more than 60 minutes per day are primarily artists)

60% report receiving primarily positive reactions to their reborns; 24% receive equally positive and negative reactions

29% find that people who are initially creeped out by reborns will rarely warm up to them

40% have observed no difference between males' and females' reactions to reborns

76% feel a special bond or affection toward the reborns they create and/or collect

When speaking to others, reborn owners most often refer to their dolls as "my reborn." "My doll" and "my baby" were tied as the next most commonly used referents.

Privately, reborn owners most often refer to their dolls by name. "My baby" and "my doll" are second- and third-most selected. All other options except "my child" have been selected by at least one participant.

The most common ways to interact with reborns are dressing (84% of respondents), posing (82%), and styling hair (67%). Cuddling comes in fourth (47%). All other options except carrying a reborn in a baby sling have been chosen by at least one participant.

27% feel that reborns fill an emotional gap in their lives.

20% report that others do not know the full extent to which they interact with their reborns.

The majority of respondents (60%) do not interact with their reborns in public. 11% would like to, but are apprehensive about others' reactions.

69% believe that it can be healthy to treat a reborn like a real baby depending on the extent and circumstances.

I have no data yet for memorial babies.

100% of participants who have bought reborns in response to childlessness or infertility find their doll physically and/or emotionally comforting.

100% of those who have bought reborns for loved ones with dementia or another mental/emotional handicap report positive effects.

9% of reborn artists report that they do not bond with the dolls they create.

9% of respondents believe the BBC documentary "My Fake Baby" is an accurate representation of reborn culture.

You wouldn't happen to have a psychology background would you? I just kind of get that impression. If so... good, if not... ok.

Sorry, that was my reply above. I switched computers while I'm downstairs painting a new kit, and forgot to sign in.

Yes, it actually was a compliment. You are very methodical and analitical in your posting of the statistics. Very professional :D I appreciate that.
And, if one is going to do a survey, then one must take the good with the bad. KWIM? So in all fairness you must leave the persons negative position in to make this a fair and accurate survey, right?

And I found the results so far to be quite enlightening. Lots of variables. Keep up the good work. :D

I would still like to post that on my FB page. Did you ever find me there?

Got it, feel free to post it on my wall, and when I get it, I'll share it with my friends as well!

Cool - thanks!