Videos of Brazil's hyper-realistic dolls have gone viral - and there's mixed reactions

Hyper-realistic baby dolls featured in TikTok videos have gone viral, prompting curiosity from social media users, and now they've even sparked political debate in Brazil.

From trips to the park, to bathing them, and sharing their morning routines, the content creators posted updates about their "reborn dolls" to their followers.

What are the purpose of the dolls?

The hand-crafted baby dolls are typically used for grief therapy or parenting practice.

Why are they being mentioned by Brazilian politicians?

A bill was recently passed by Rio de Janeiro city council, which honours lifelike doll makers (subject to Mayor Eduardo Paes signing this off).

But elsewhere in the country, other legislators have been contemplating fines for doll owners who using medical services for their dolls, such as a clip of one woman allegedly taking her doll to a hospital, according to Associated Press.

AP/Thiago Mostazo and Maycron Abade

In an interesting development, Amazonas state lawmaker Joao Luiz brought a doll with him to the State House on Tuesday to announce plans to ban reborn dolls from receiving care in the state’s public health system (although health authorities had never recorded any such cases, a local outlet reported).

However, not all politicians see it as a pressing issue with congresswoman Talíria Petrone asking her colleagues to "focus on real matters."

"If someone wants to have a doll, let them. I have two real children and they’re more than enough work,” she said, last week.

Where does the problem lie?

This latest political news comes as “reborn mothers” held a gathering Villa Lobos Park, in Sao Paulo, on Saturday - in the 10th annual meet-up of its kind.

According to them, it's the attention-seeking influencers who are to blame, not everyone within the community, as per AP.

What do "reborn dolls" provide for collectors?

For nursing assistant and collector Berenice Maria, it's an emotional comfort that her eight dolls provide for her.

“I love reborns, despite the hate we see out there,” she said to AP. “I want the right to go out with them … go to the mall, go to the park.”

It seems the "reborn doll" business is booming as Daniela Baccan, co-owner of a reborn doll shop in Campinas, Sao Paulo noted to the publication how "online demand has increased" with her store "seeing a much higher flow of people.

Though with the dolls making headlines, she noted how they are "locking up the store more" and "adding camera" due to safety concerns.

How much do they cost?

Price-wise, Baccan says the dolls can sell anywhere from 700 reais ($124) to nearly 10,000 reais (nearly $1,800).

Social media reaction

One of the most viral TikTok "reborn doll" accounts is Nane Reborns (@nane.reborns) who has 283,000 followers and according to her bio has been collecting dolls for two decades.

In a video posted last month, the creator can be seen taking one of her reborn dolls to a park meetup as she panned the camera other creators holding their dolls too.

Since posting the vlog, it has received 7.9 million views, 541,000 and plenty of comments from viewers who didn't hold back with their thoughts.

"There is a lot of unemployment," one person said.

A second person wrote, "People, is this normal?"

"People thought it was strange but they didn't watch the whole video lol People are all artists, they make the dolls and show their art in Ibirapuera...it's the same thing as making a painting and going there to show it," a third person posted.

A fourth person commented, "People didn't see that there are a lot of elderly people there, that is, they probably have babies because they feel lonely."

Elsewhere, Young girl performs for passengers on delayed Delta flight on TikTok, and Beatboxing nuns go viral for incredible performance on Catholic TV.

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