The head and limbs of a baby doll lie on a table at a workshop in Belgium. Even in this half-formed state, its features look uncannily real.
These are the elements for making a "reborn baby," an incredibly life-like kind of doll that has become popular mainly with collectors, but also with grieving parents and nostalgic grandparents.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Beatrice Van Landeghem is a Belgian artist who makes these dolls. She poses with two of her creations, named Sofia and Loan, at her workshop in La Louviere, southern Belgium.
The cost of a "reborn baby" can vary between hundreds and thousands of euros, and the dolls take around 25 hours to be assembled, depending on the level of precision requested by people who "adopt" them.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Van Landeghem creates the dolls from a kit composed of a vinyl head and limbs and a fabric trunk.
She then paints the parts several times to create the skin tone of a newborn baby, gives them natural-looking hair and eyelashes, and adds weight to make them feel as heavy as human babies when carried.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Nineteen-year-old Stacy poses with one of the dolls, which has been named Stefy.
“I like to dress her up,” says Stacy, who already has three dolls and says she really enjoys playing with them.
1 / 11
Slideshow
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Belgian artist Beatrice Van Landeghem prepares to insert eyes onto one of her life-like dolls.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
She uses a needle to attach hair to the head of one of her "reborn babies".
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
The artist paints the nails of a doll named Loan.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
She paints the arm of one of the objects.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Beatrice dresses up Nathan, another of the dolls.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
A doll named Leon lies finished and dressed.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Van Landeghem adjusts the hair of a doll called Sofia.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Van Landeghem poses with Sofia and Loan.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Her six-year-old daughter Tyssia poses with a "reborn baby" named Betty Lou.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
A doll named Mathilda lies in a cot.
. LA LOUVIERE, Belgium. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Clothes made for the life-like dolls hang at Van Landeghem's workshop.
"Yes, it might appear scary, but it is all so beautiful and very well done. This is the complexity of the human being."
“I would like to adopt please,” “I would like to buy a life-like baby”, or “I would love to adopt Mathilda or Stefy” are sentences you hear from clients entering the workshop of artist Beatrice Van Landeghem in La Louviere, south Belgium.
“La nurserie des Tis Lous De Bea”, which can be translated as “The nursery of Bea’s babies” (Bea for Beatrice) is a very atypical store, situated in the small town, a 45-minute drive from Brussels. Welcome to the Belgian “Reborn Baby” paradise.
Everybody can buy a “Reborn Baby”-kit and try to make their own life-like baby, but not all of us have the skills to make them appear real. Belgian artist Beatrice Van Landeghem knows how to make her customers fall in love with a beautifully made doll. You have to see it with your own eyes. It’s hard to believe how realistic it can be.
Lying in his cradle, “Loan”, a one-month-old baby doll, carefully crafted in vinyl and wonderfully hand-painted by the artist, looks as if he is far away and sleeping.
“Let’s adopt him, he is ours!” The customers seem to think as if preparing themselves to become virtual parents.
The dolls are created by the artist from a kit consisting of limbs and a head made from vinyl, and a torso made from fabric. The items are painted several times to create the skin tone of a newborn baby.
Then Van Landeghem adds hair and eyelashes which look like the real thing. The dolls are then filled to make them feel as heavy as human babies when carried. It takes around 25 hours to make a baby with a level of precision that makes it look almost genuine.
Why would you buy such a doll? Some “Reborn Babies” found a second life thanks to the internet. Some saw their value increase with collectors. The dolls sold by Beatrice cost around 300-400 Euros ($400-$530), but some rare pieces have reached a value of several thousand Euros.
It might look quite creepy but it is not. The “Reborn Baby” artist I met did not appear to me to be searching to create something that might become scary. Her goal is to create the most beautiful baby dolls with minute attention to detail.
“I like to dress her up,” says Stacy, a 19-year-old posing for me with Stefy, her life-like newborn baby doll. Stacy added that she already has three dolls and that she really enjoys playing with them.
The artist sometimes receives requests to create “Reborn Babies” from photos and make them look similar to the pictures. Whether from grieving parents or nostalgic grandparents, she stayed discreet and avoided commenting on the issue. Many online articles testify that some people seek solace in the arms of a baby that they will never have or who tragically disappeared.
We are all concerned with human sensibilities. Yes, it might appear scary, but it is all so beautiful and very well done. This is the complexity of the human being. I tried to stay objective. When you see photos of the original kit of a “Reborn Baby,” and follow through to the final result when the doll is ready to be adopted, it appears confusing – it is so real!
