Im a mom-of-two but only one baby is real trolls say Im crazy for raising a doll, but I love him

For Maddie, being a teen mom of two tots is child’s play — mostly because one of her kids is plastic. Dolling up and doting on a newborn became a labor of love for the 19-year-old when she first welcomed human daughter, Ophelia, nearly two years ago.But as her in-real-life infant transformed into a toddler, the Gen Z mommy missed those precious moments of caring for a bun fresh out of the oven. So, she scraped together some dough and bought a baby doll. “I’ve got two babies and only one is real,” Maddie, from the UK, said in a TikTok snippet via Truly TV, detailing her life as a young parent to a person and a plaything. The brunette’s son, Forrest, is a Reborn Doll. Little bundles of faux joy, Forrest and his ilk are handcrafted, hype-realistic works of art.

Boasting physical features eerily similar to those of flesh and blood babies, the pseudo-sweethearts often come complete with lifelike skin made of silicon, twinkling eyes, a head full of luscious locks  — and eye-popping price tags. Specialty dolls, customized numbers built with the abilities to coo and crawl, can reportedly run customers upwards of $25,000. Denise Hall, a 37-year-old doll artist from Wales, hawks her handmade babes for more than $4,000.Her clientele is mostly comprised of grieving woman who’ve experienced miscarriage, infertility or child death. However, a handful of reborn mothers, such as Kelly White, 28, a content creator from Long Island, simply can’t afford to have real children right now. So, for wannabe mommies of big broods like the New Yorker — who breastfeeds her tribe of eight doll babies — and Maddie, purchasing pretend pups is the most economically sound alternative. Maddie explained to Truly TV that the cost of welcoming a second child would be stressful on her wallet.

Forrest has become a budget-friendly addition to her little family. He arrived in the mail with a birth certificate, declaring his date of birth and birth weight, and came ...