Brazil Handmade dolls of babies larger than life

(Contagem) In Ana Paula Guimaraes' studio, dolls representing babies more real than life “sleep” in cradles, while others are seated on a sofa.

"I don't make dolls, I turn dreams into reality," the Brazilian told AFP, while holding an infant's head to paint her lips red with a brush.

These dolls are called "reborn babies", an art that consists in making them with such precision in the smallest details that one could almost confuse them with children in flesh and blood.

This resident of Contagem, in the state of Minas Gerais, takes an average of seven days to make each creation, which sells for prices of up to 7,000 reals (about $1,600).

The customers are mainly Brazilian, but she also receives orders from France, Portugal, the United States and Australia.

The trunk is made of fabric, the head and limbs of latex and the hair of sheep's wool, implanted "wire by wire".

Mrs. ^Guimaraes uses different types of paints for the skin, the eyelashes or the nails.

On some babies, you can even see veins or birthmarks.

“The hardest part is getting the most realistic skin tone. We have a palette of more than twenty colors. The hair implant can also be very laborious,” she says.

Eternity and fertility

Customers can choose from skin color to eye color, hair color, and face shape, as well as the baby's age, from newborn to two years old.

Ana Paula Guimaraes, who has always worked in crafts, has been making “reborn babies” since 2008. More than a thousand have already come out of her workshop.

“I saw a woman making it and it touched me a lot, so I decided to do the same,” she explains.

This concept, already widespread in Europe and the United States, comes from the Second World War, when mothers repaired their children's broken dolls with all types of materials. Hence the term “reborn”, which gives an idea of ​​rebirth.

The practice then evolved, consisting of making a doll representing a baby as realistically as possible.

His clients are collectors or parents who wish to “eternate children who have already grown up”. She also sells it to couples with fertility problems or who have had a spontaneous abortion.

“A lady who had been trying for a baby for eight years ordered a doll from me. Two months later, she was pregnant,” she says.

"It may sound unbelievable, but her baby was born identical to the doll."