Woman who gained thousands of followers playing with realistic reborn dolls says women should continue childhood hobbies

Rochelle Sadd, 26, first discovered reborns when she was 12 years old when seeing an advert for them on her mum’s computer

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A 26-year-old woman who “just never stopped playing with dolls” now has a reborn hyper-realistic doll collection, often “dressing them up” and thinks her “fun and therapeutic hobby” is something more women should do as “men don’t have to give up their hobbies” as they get older. Rochelle Sadd, a disability support worker, from New South Wales, Australia, always loved playing with dolls, especially baby dolls and Barbies, and when she was around 12 years old she saw an advert for reborns and instantly it was all she could think about, she says.

She could not wait to go into year nine of secondary school, as students got an option to take home a RealCare baby, a baby doll that simulated a real baby. When she finally got to take one home, she thought it was “so cool” and “loved playing with it” and began repairing dolls in her spare time.

At 17 years old, Rochelle got a second-hand reborn baby, which she thought was the “best thing ever” and she now has six dolls in total, with the most expensive doll costing 1,000 Australian dollars (£514). Rochelle’s newborn doll, called Nixon, is her favourite because it looks like her and if she had a son, “maybe that’s what he would look like”.

Day to day, Rochelle dresses the dolls up, but asserts that she knows “they are dolls” and does not act “as if they are completely real”. Now, Rochelle shares her hobby online, on YouTube and Instagram, where she goes by Shell Bell, to her thousands of followers, and has found a reborn community – she often meets up with a group of women with reborn dolls despite the public acting like they are “not happy or they don’t approve”.

Rochelle said: “I just never stopped playing with dolls – I’ve always loved it. I think they’re beautiful and it’s a fun and therapeutic hobby.

“I love dressing them up in cute clothes and collecting them, and I always think it shouldn’t be considered weird or stigmatised – men get to play with train sets and video games when they get older, so why can’t women? Men don’t have to give up on their hobbies.”

When Rochelle was around 12 years old she saw an advert for reborn dolls on her mother’s computer and became desperate to own one. She explained: “When I was a little girl, I saw an email advertising this gorgeous, beautiful lifelike doll that was in a beautiful dress, and they were very expensive.

“I just remember thinking I wish I could have one of those, I really wanted one, it’s all I could think about.” One of Rochelle’s high school highlights was having a RealCare baby doll to take home as it was the closest thing to a reborn doll.

She said: “I could not wait to go into year nine in high school so I could have this real doll and play with it. I was just so fascinated by it, I thought it was so cool.

“I loved playing with it so much. In my spare time, I started buying dolls and repairing them, but I always wanted my own.”

At age 17, she finally got her hands on a reborn doll, she said: “My mum got me a second-hand reborn and I thought it was the best thing ever. I played with it all the time and I started to get into the reborn community.”

Rochelle’s family were not too surprised about her purchase, she explained: “At that point, I was buying doll parts and repairing them so it didn’t come as much of a shock. Not every single person in my life knows about the dolls either.

“I mainly tell people that are going to see them if they come over to my house.” Over time, Rochelle bought an additional five dolls, with her most expensive toy costing 1,000 dollars.

She said: “I’ve got three newborns and two three-month-olds. My favourite is Nixon, so he has brown hair, he looks like he’s sleeping – perhaps he’s my favourite because he looks like me and if I had a son, maybe that’s what he would look like.

“I went through a phase when I enjoyed open-eye babies but now I love hyper-realistic ones that look like they are sleeping.” Day to day, Rochelle plays with her dolls and displays them in a nursery in prams.

She said: “I love playing with them, dressing them up, but I wouldn’t say I roleplay with them as if they are completely real – I know they are dolls. I have clothes for them which I love putting them in, they look super cute, but I don’t pretend to feed them.”

Now, Rochelle shares her hobby online, on YouTube and Instagram, with her 13,900 and 19,900 followers respectively, and films herself playing with them. She explained: “I only roleplay with them when I’m filming – I’ll feed them, put them in a pram, cuddle them, just act as if they are completely real, but that’s purely for the sake of a video.

“I’ll film tutorials on how to clean prams, role play videos, tutorials, hauls.” Her boyfriend even helps her record her videos and is very supportive of her unusual interest.

She said: “He will help me with things especially if I need to film something. He’ll hold the camera and stuff but he doesn’t really want anything to do with it, that’s fine.

“It’s definitely my separate hobby.” Since posting about her hobby, Rochelle has found a reborn community online, and even meets up with fellow reborn mums.

She explained: “So when there’s a group of five or so prams together with reborn dolls some people will think we’re in a mother’s group, some people think it’s cute, and some people think it’s weird and walk away. They usually are really quick to walk away but I’ve never really had major negative issues – maybe they’ll say something under their breath.”

On whether she would recommend reborns to others, she said: “I can see that there could be a lot of benefits to people even if it is just something as simple as empty nest syndrome, where you have children and they’ve grown up and it’s just you at home now and you feel a little bit lonely.

“You might want to sit down and have a cuddle for five minutes, and that’s really comforting. I think other people should try getting reborns, as I said, as women we shouldn’t have to give up on our childhood hobbies.”