'My husband got fired over my reborn dolls

Christina Keeler, from Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, and her husband Bill Keeler fell pregnant with their first “miracle” baby in 2015, despite Christina having endometriosis and being told she would not be able to conceive in her 20s

A mother turned to roleplaying with her collection of hyper-realistic dolls “to help cope” with the death of her first baby.

She continues to do so with her husband and two rainbow babies, despite her husband’s parents “disapproving” of the hobby and firing him from the family business as a result.

Christina Keeler, 38, a stay-at-home mum and YouTuber, from Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, US, and her husband, Bill Keeler, 43, fell pregnant with their first “miracle” baby in 2015, despite Christina having endometriosis and being told she would not be able to conceive in her 20s.

But, after Christina miscarried at eight weeks and watched a documentary about reborn dolls, she had a lightbulb moment and realised getting a hyper-realistic newborn doll would be the “perfect solution”.

Christina’s husband was “hesitant” at first but became supportive after he saw how much it “helped (her) grief.”

The couple then went on to have two "miracle" daughters, Grace, six, and Joy, four, who now help feed, change and dress the family’s five reborn dolls - which cost between $2000 and $5000 each, in their “nursery” complete with “a crib and a wardrobe".

The family often take the dolls out in public, and have shared their journey on YouTube - where Christina documents people’s reactions to her dolls and birthing videos, with some silicone reborn dolls coming in a fake womb which allows you to perform a C-section at home.

But, when Bill’s family discovered this, they were “disgusted” with the hobby, to the point where they gave Bill a choice to either stop having the dolls or leave the family business.

Bill refused to shut down the YouTube channel and did not want Christina to give up her hobby, so he was fired.

Christina fell pregnant with her first baby in 2015, one year after her mother passed away of cancer.

The couple were “elated” because Christina was told, in her twenties, that she would not be able to conceive because she has endometriosis, but Christina miscarried at eight weeks.

Christina sadid: “When we lost the baby it was so devastating, I remember lying in the hospital bed after they had taken the baby out of my belly, and screaming for my mom and wept wanting to cuddle my baby.”

Christina “really struggled” with the grief of losing her mother and her baby so close together.

She explained: “This feeling of sorrow just never went away, it was so painful that I never talked about it again.”

But, Christina and Bill "eventually" went on to naturally have two “miracle” children Grace and Joy.

Christina still longed to hold her first baby, and after watching a documentary about reborn dolls, she wanted to get one to see if it would help her grief.

She explained: “I felt so blessed to have two healthy girls, but that feeling of missing the first baby never quite went away.

“When my youngest was around two years old, my husband and I came across a documentary about reborn dolls.

“And he was like, ‘That's really weird’, and I played it off that I thought the same, but actually I really wanted one to help me cope and I thought it would be the perfect solution.”

After persuading her husband, Christina ordered her first lifelike doll, Hannah, costing her around $200.

She said: “I told my husband and he was not on board at all, he was hesitant, but after explaining my reasoning, he was much more understanding and more accepting.”

When the doll arrived, Christina instantly felt like it helped with her mourning.

She said: “It helped me therapeutically because for the first time ever when I got my first reborn doll, I was able to talk about the loss of our baby.

“And since then I have healed tremendously from that loss because I'm able to talk about it and share my story and help others - it helped my grief for sure.”

Currently, Christina has a collection of five dolls, costing between $2000 and $5000 a piece, called Carter, Cadence, Quinn, Isabella and Sammy, that she loves to dress, cuddle and feed.

Christina takes the dolls out in public and people often mistake them for real babies.

She said: “We have a nursery for them with a crib and a wardrobe.

“I check on them throughout the day, and on other days, especially when the girls want to get involved, I pick out an outfit for them, bring them to breakfast, get them to feed them a bottle, change them.

“If we’re running errands we often take them out with us and put them in a car seat and stroller.”

She and her family have been sharing these experiences on YouTube where they are known as The Reborn Family.

She said: “I make videos about people’s reactions to my dolls, as well as vlogs, and birthing videos - I have some silicone reborn dolls which come in a womb and you perform a C-section on it at home, to give birth to the baby.”

Despite her immediate family being supportive of their hobby, Christina admits that not everyone in her wider family understands.

She said: “My husband’s family were, and still are, disapproving of the reborns, even though they can see how much they helped me. They were disgusted.

“We moved from California to Pennsylvania because my husband was next in line to take over the family business because they were about to retire, and they asked if we would like to do so and we agreed.

“When they were on vacation they came across our YouTube channel, and they called us up and they were mortified and so embarrassed, and said we were ruining the family name."

When Bill's parents came home, they gave Bill a choice to either stop having the dolls or leave the family business.

Christina explained: “Bill said that he was not going to quit his job, and didn’t want me to stop having reborns because they were so therapeutic for me at the time, and his dad said, ‘Well, then you're fired’.”

Bill’s father was contacted for comment, but he had not responded at the time of publication.

Even though her reborns have caused tension in the family, Christina cannot see herself giving up her hobby any time soon.

She said: “Reborns continue to help me with my grief, and I love sharing content with other people who have lost babies, and they can also really help people with dementia, people who are infertile, people with anxiety and depression, I wouldn’t want to stop this.”

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