Influencers have staged birth simulations and strolls in shopping malls with the hand-crafted baby figures, known as “reborn” dolls, creating videos that have gone viral.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus has been reimagined and reborn without animals as a high-octane family event with highwire tricks, soaring trapeze artists and bicycles leaping on ...

A pre-manufactured reborn doll starts at around $50, Trigg says, while a hand-sculpted original finished silicone doll can cost upwards of $5,000 or even $10,000, depending on the artist.

"Consider the characteristics and potential dangers of the extinct marine reptile, Styxosaurus, if it were still alive." ...

To some, the dolls, known as reborn dolls, provide comfort, escape or just plain fun. But politicians across Brazil have tried to pass bills banning the dolls from public spaces.

Some of the women who collect Reborn dolls have lost a baby or suffered from repeated miscarriages. The doll design process–called Reborning–is elaborate and time-consuming.

SAO PAULO — Videos featuring emotional moments with hyper-realistic baby dolls have sparked both online fascination and political debate in Brazil, with lawmakers even bringing the lifelike ...