Brazil's Lifelike 'Reborn Dolls' Spark Viral Craze And Political Controversy

While it's common to see children playing with dolls, Brazil is witnessing a growing trend among adults who are drawn to hyper-realistic baby dolls. Videos capturing emotional interactions with these lifelike dolls have gone viral, sparking widespread online interest and even prompting political discussions, with some lawmakers bringing the dolls into legislative sessions.

Influencers in Brazil are going viral for staging birth simulations and public outings with hand-crafted "reborn" dolls-ultra-realistic baby figures. These lifelike dolls are often treated like real infants in videos, and the women caring for them are popularly referred to as "reborn mothers."

According to The New York Times, one such viral video, which received more than 16 million views on TikTok, is part of a social media craze that has turned into a cultural and political flashpoint in Brazil. Widely circulated videos show women taking the hyperrealistic dolls to the park in strollers, celebrating their birthdays with cake and songs, and simulating childbirth. (A select few even simulate the dolls' having a nosebleed or potty training.)

"The ones I like the most are the newborns," Juliana Drusz Magri, 36, who lives in Curitiba, the capital of the Brazilian state of Parana, and works in human resources told NYT. She said she began collecting the dolls in 2018 and now has 22.

"The world of make-believe is an escape valve for me," she said. "And, no, I don't treat it like a real baby."

The dolls have flooded into pop culture. They were featured this month in an episode of "Vale Tudo," a prime-time telenovela, and in a rap song trending on social media about a gang that walks down the street "kicking reborn dolls."

Newspaper columnists, influencers and lawmakers have all weighed in, with varying degrees of sincerity, about what some perceive as a threat to the social order and what others have described as a harmless hobby, according to The New York Times.