Rips I will try and sum my point up without it becoming too personal. I am a 40 year old completely blessed mother of 3 wonderful children .If i die and my gravestone says "She was a brill mum" then I will have died happy. Many women around me pursued careers and financial security and then found age was against them and children became nothing more than an ideal or a fantasy.

Financial security is an ideal but not a necessity. Children being brought into the world ,wanted loved and nurtured is the ultimate ideal.I understand the frustration of the so called single mum syndrome but there are many women for whom motherhood is a longed for state for which waiting for that ideal situation has rendered the dream unattainable.

but we should be talking fake babies

its not about real ones is it

we are lucky enough to have had some so i can;t take the micky out of those whom sadly crave and if they wanna spend ten grand on a pram then thats up to them

I do see where you are coming from Inca, but if it is a medically driven need that is satiated by a fake baby that is surely different from a consumer driven market that tempts women into spending thousands of pounds on accessories for the fake child. That was my original point about where the money would be better spent.Signing off now as I have had far too many ports. Good to have a good discussion now. Off to kiss my kids goodnight and count my blessings. Sleep well everyone....

That's fine, but too many people assume having kids is a God given right (and then complain when they eat all their money! ). IMO it isn't a God given right, it's a responsibilty first and foremost. I'm not saying you have to be RICH to have kids (far from it these days), but at least have the decency to stop and think "Would it be right to have kids right now?" rather than "It is my right to have kids right now!!".

This doesn't mean waiting soooo long to render having children impossible, just enough to make sure it's right for the child.

Money doesn't automatically mean a kid willl have a wonderful life, but neither does the best intentions of some who think of what they want before welfare of their unborn child!

All I'm saying is people shouldn't have kids just cos they can and then whinge about how much they cost etc. They should've thought of that before they had them!

[Previous post's statement in bold still standing!]

I watched this and found it very disturbing. I was genuinely concerned about the mental health of the women, the one who had a doll made to match pictures of he newborn grandson seemed particularly concerning. The way she spoke of the boy as if he was dead at first made me sympathise with her and understand why she might be doing it. But when it turned out he'd only moved (with his mother and stepdad!!) to NZ i thought there was something very wrong!! And when she said she's actually suggested to her daughter that she should leave her son in England Probably the most disturbing of all, when she picked the "doll" up from the woman who made it and said "no-one can take him away from me this time?"... Thats sad, really! The poor woman needs help, its like she's suffering from bereavement!

The other woman? More money than sense i think!! Not harming anyone though, and although not "normal" i think she's just doing it as a hobby. To a lot of people us crazy dog owners would look weird!! lol

But i hate dolls, i always have, i find them creepy. And it was just odd for me to watch, almost as bad as the people who dress their dogs up like babies.. Yuk!

I must admit I thought he had died to start with (only half listening!) and to find out he was still alive was a bit weird.

But the best bit was when the Grandson said to Granny (after being shown the doll) via webcam "That's not a baby, numb nuts, it's a doll!"

Yep! Just watched this I had a request from someone a while back to go into business with them doing these New Born Dolls. I declined the offer.

I think they have a place, and some are quite sweet, but imo most purchasers are sad or grieving in some way, as this was the case this evening. If they give comfort then so be it.

i didnt watch it but to be honest i dont really know how you can get pleasure from something that doesnt give you anything back - i mean a real baby responds, laughs, develops, becomes a little person - a fake baby is well its a doll !!!

so if its a maternal instinct i dont get it - you cant breastfeed a fake baby, you cant get its lovely warm body snuggled up beside you, you cant see its eyes light up or ear it giggle so what is the point?

to me its like having a statue of a dog and carrying it around. it does sound to me its more about having something that at first look looks like a real child to draw attention to yourself - but then what did they say if someone asked them about it in supermarkets etc?/ I couldnt get down an aisle in the supermarket when luca was little with people poking their heads in the pram and asking his name etc.

you would think they would be mortified by peoples reactions to someone with a fake baby ???

just weird IMO and abit pointless..

Well guys you may think I am one of the nutters lol. I have 7 of these babies. I have always had a great love of dolls. I must admit I don't carry them around or push them out in a pram I am not that mad. After having 4 real ones that have grown up, it's lovely to have these they are no trouble at all, they dont need feeding and they don't cry. lol. I must admit I have bought some lovely outfits for them, all from ebay so nothing expensive. I started collecting them when an aunt of mine who was like a second mother to me died. She had a beautiful moses basket which was hers when she was born, so its about 80 years old, she lent this to me when my 4 children were born. When she died she left everything to me and there was no way I could get rid of this moses basket as it meant so much to her and myself so I brought it home and decided to look for a baby doll to put in it. So I ordered my first baby doll. After that I just kept seeing more of these lovely babies that I really liked. That's how it all started for me. It is a very expensive hobby so I don't think I will be looking for anymore. Some people collect teddys or just fluffy toys but I love my baby dolls. Am I strange, don't answer that as my husband often says I am, lol.

I think we'd all agree that collecting is fine, it's just the whole pretending they're real thing that I struggle with - as shown on the programme.