Dolls Fair - when is a doll too real?

I just thought I would share a slightly disconcerting experience I had at the weekend. I saw a sign in Peterborough saying 'doll fair' and as I have a dolls house and I love art dolls I thought I would take a peak. So I dragged the ever patient Paul along to something that was unlike anything I could have expected. It was full of 'newborn dolls'. Now I don't know if you have seen these but they are incredibly lifelike dolls made to look like sleeping babies. Don't get me wrong - they looked AMAZING! They were so lifelike and I really could appreciate the craft involved in creating each unique doll (which justifies the price tags; from £300 - £800 a doll).

What I found disturbing was the reaction of many of the people in the room. There were grown women wondering around with pushchairs, and when you glanced into them it contained one of these dolls... looking all the world like they were wheeling around a dead baby! Women carrying them in blankets like they were real. It was beyond creepy! Now I like dolls, and I like babies, but creating dolls for adults that are intended to appear so real (one stand advertised that the dolls had beating hearts) makes me worry. Watching some of these women made me wonder if they knew that the 'fake' babies weren't real babies. Where they using these dolls not as collectors items, but as a crutch to disguise some emotional void when they would be better seeking therapy than relying on a doll.

On a lighter (but not much less creepy note) - I took this picture of a stand that sold the constituent parts so you could make your own newborn...

Pickled baby in a jar anyone?