I would love your perspectives on why some collectors enjoy pretending that dolls need medical care. I think preemies make sense as a smaller doll (often more affordable) but they can seem quite fragile as a ‘baby’ so sometimes we see them with medical tubing or in an incubator. I think the dolls with Downs syndrome, etc. are about representation/diversity. I’m not opposed to anyone playing at having an ill or disabled doll. Do you think it helps create a bond for the doll owner because of the extra care and love needed?
To me, tiny preemies don’t seem realistic without tubes. And they don’t really look right in anything but nicu shirts and hospital blankets.
But regular size preemies look right with or without tubes.
Other things like glasses and leg braces can definitely add realism. It can definitely help a collector connect to a real child.
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I never thought of it that way! Like the baby requires the medical supports. Thanks for that perspective.
Not my cup of tea. In a perfect world they should have nothing wrong with them…I don’t enjoy seeing a human at its most perfect stage in life suffering and I don’t like seeing a doll portrayed in that way either. But everyone has their preferences 
Edited to add, I think preemies are adorable, I just feel sad seeing all the tubes that they require to help them survive.
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Honestly I love preemie reborns. I find them more realistic compared to older dolls. It may be that all of my siblings were born premature from 32 weeks up to 35 weeks. I love the tiny baby clothes as well 
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OhMyGoodness!
The 1st pic - all that blonde hair and perfect eyebrows, and those veins - just amazing! 
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Personally I don’t like to see OUR babies portrayed with medical issues. I imagine for some that have maybe been through having a preemie/disability baby they would appreciate them cause they can relate in real life. For me, no, it just hurts my heart to see a tiny baby with medical problems, real or reborn.
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I think they are all beautiful! It is all representation of life and living human babies are just beautiful to me. I think the different representations are a way for people to connect to images like what a baby they have loved may have looked like. One either who made it or did not. Life is fragile and it should all be celebrated I think as long as done so respectfully and with compassion.
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I haven’t asked this in a long time: these are real babies, right?!
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Haha yes! They’re 10, 4, and 5 now (in order of pictures)
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I have always wondered about this. I thought maybe they were memorializing a preemie time with a child they had that survived or they lost?
I personally wouldn’t want to be reminded of the scary parts… as a mom who had two children die (one was born sleeping, and a 19 year old to brain cancer) I couldn’t take hospital photos, ever. When my daughter died, I am the one who removed every tube, catheter, oxygen, monitor lead. I didn’t want to see it, I just wanted to remember her. When I got home I threw every piece of equipment outside, tore out the wheelchair ramp, made the bed the way she loved it without pads, and foam supports.
I wanted the ugliest, scariest things gone.
I wonder why some women fantasize about having a medically fragile child.
I have painted BB’s Patience because I found her to be beautiful and I didn’t consider her sick, just her own little self who happened to have a different number of chromosomes than most kids.
Maybe its some left over playing hospital when you were little???
Still stumped, not judging, just stumped.
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This is exactly how I feel Gina, I’m just not nearly as articulate as you. Wish I was better with explaining myself. Thanks for a job well done.
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I had no idea you had lost 2 children. I am so very sorry 
Much love to you.
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Agreed!!
You expressed my feelings exactly.
And I am crying for you that 2 little beautiful souls left you so early, but I am sure that they are with you 
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You are too hard on yourself, you are just perfect!!!
Nice to know I am on the same page with you.
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Sorry to be a downer, didn’t mean to make anyone sad, it is so a part of my life that I don’t realize how awful it can make people feel.
I hope they are with me too, and that one day I will be with them again.
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Thank you.
I always say, “everyone has a story, life is full of joy and sorrow, it’s just a human thing”
I appreciate the kind words.
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For me, every stage has beauty. I love the realism and that those stages can be recreated. I will acknowledge that I’ve never experienced it with my children and maybe that’s why I have the distance to be able to see the beauty. Also, the knowledge that these are dolls and not real children suffering allows the beauty to be seen also.
I don’t understand the roleplay that some people have with wanting to pretend that their dolls have drs appointments and such, though.
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When you say beauty, do you mean the beauty of care and medical support?
The pretend play to me is just play, and I’ve heard many say it’s more for the camera (they’re not necessarily doing that off camera). It makes sense to me it’s performance/for fun/for viewers or to be more ‘shocking’. Sure makes doll lovers seem extreme though! 
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