There's a surprising similarity between some infants taken to the hospital in Brazil for medical help and a baby taken into parliament by a Brazilian politician: They are not real. Known as "reborn" dolls, these "hyper-realistic" baby figures have taken off in the South American country, according to The Associated Press. But not everyone thinks the trend is healthy.
If you "blink," you could "mistake" them for the real thing, said the South China Morning Post. Bearing an "eerie resemblance to an actual infant," the dolls "cry, suck dummies, pee and have nails, eyelashes and veins." They first arrived in the U.S. in the early 1990s, "targeting adults chiefly," but in recent years, their popularity has "rocketed" in Brazil.
Costing anywhere from $120 to nearly $1,760, the dolls are often used for grief therapy or parenting practice, said the AP. But online influencers have also staged "birth simulations and strolls in shopping malls" with the handcrafted baby figures, creating videos that have gone viral.
Social media has "erupted" in response to the trend, with posts either "condemning" it as "deranged" or "dismissing" it as a "harmless hobby," said the South China Morning Post. Some politicians have called for "reborn" mothers to be offered psychological help, but others are less compassionate, demanding punishments for people who allegedly use their "babies" to "jump the queue for public services." One collector, Gabi Matos, called the criticism sexist because "male hobbies like video games, flying kites and playing football are normalized," yet women can't "take care of their dolls without people thinking we are sick." | 
