A TEENAGER has spent £5,000 collecting 13 dolls she treats as real-life babies.
Natasha Harridge, 19, plays with her collection at her home in Rugby, Warks, and treats the dolls like children.
The customer service apprentice even takes the dolls on days out and has poses for selfies with them.
She first discovered the unusual hobby of collecting reborn dolls in 2012 and would watch others roleplay with their dolls online.
In 2014 she got her first reborn doll, Hannah, and since then her collection of dolls has grown to 13 - despite selling some.
Her dolls’ ages range from a newborn baby to four years old and they are called Sierra, Isiah, Holly, Aubrielle, Isabella, Jasper, Noah, Lucas, Autumn, Pablo, George, Otto and Fawn.
She claims her hobby has helped her overcome her grief following the miscarriages of her baby brother and niece.
Natasha started her own Instagram and YouTube pages, South Willows Reborns, where she posts pictures and videos of her cuddling and changing her dolls which are popular with her thousands of followers and subscribers.
Over the years, Natasha reckons she has spent around £5,000 in total on her hobby.
Some of Natasha’s friends and family find her hobby strange but they accept the reborn dolls as part of who she is.
Now Natasha wants to show others that people who collect reborns aren’t crazy and explained that sometimes people collect them as a form of therapy.
She said: “Don't judge before you know the facts. There might be specific reasons people collect the dolls, within my time of collecting I’ve lost my niece and brother so they have really helped me through those losses.
"It was very hard for me because I am an emotional person. It was very difficult.
“My sister and biological mum both miscarried in 2015 and 2016 so we never got to meet them but having the reborns to hold made me feel like the babies were there in physical form.
“I care for the dolls as if they were real. In the sense that I cuddle them and change them but I mostly use them for photography.
“I used to have really low self-confidence however when I take the babies out with me, I feel much more confident and happier due to the endorphins they help release and they give me the confidence to go out more.
“I love being able to care for the dolls without having to worry about dirty nappies and crying babies.
“My friends think the hobby is strange however they understand, they have always been supportive which I've been grateful for…
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