4 days ago
After Pregnancy Loss, Mom of 2 Finds Comfort in Taking Care of 'Reborn' Doll: 'We've Got Our Baby Boy' (Exclusive)
Christina Keeler is opening up about finding comfort in her reborn dolls after pregnancy loss
The mom of two tells PEOPLE she was 10 weeks pregnant when she miscarried this spring
"I don't really have a baby boy, but I get to do the fun baby boy stuff, get the cute little clothes, get to name him," she saysA mom of two, who has built an online following showcasing her lifelike reborn dolls, is sharing her heartbreak after a pregnancy loss — and opening up about how the dolls have helped her find comfort.
Christina Keeler, who shares daughters Joy, 6, and Grace, 8 with husband William Keeler, was 10 weeks pregnant when she miscarried this spring, which affected her even more intensely than the previous pregnancy loss she experienced in 2015.
Christina, 40, has a YouTube channel called 'The Reborn Family' — where she'll be sharing her entire story in full at a later date — filled with videos where she takes her hyper-realistic dolls out in public or cares for them in her Houston home.
While she disclosed the story of her past pregnancy loss to her 38,000 subscribers on the channel, this time it feels different because she's sharing her pain in 'real time.'
The stay-at-home mom — who hopes her story will help remind people to be 'kind and understanding" — isn't afraid to give insight into her life, but it sometimes comes at a cost.
The Keelers met in Christina's home state of California and welcomed their two daughters after their first pregnancy loss. In 2020, they moved to William's 700-person hometown in Pennsylvania, so he could run the paper that was owned by his family.
Despite the idyllic setting, she found she had extra time on her hands. So, when she watched a documentary about "reborns," she was eventually inspired to purchase one of her own, although she admits it took some deliberation to make the plunge.
'In my head, I was thinking, 'I want one so bad, but I was too embarrassed to say anything at first,'' she remembers.
Christina says getting her first reborn doll helped her talk to William about their pregnancy loss for the first time.
'We had never talked about it at that point,' says Christina. 'We just came home from the hospital that day and just never talked about it again.'
Hesitant at first, William got behind her affinity for the dolls, and even helped create some of the content for her channel once he saw the happiness it brought her. Beyond her own enjoyment, Christina wanted to spread awareness through her content for other doll owners who found solace and joy by interacting with their reborns.
But when people in town began to talk, William's father gave him an ultimatum: Christina needed to stop creating doll content or William would have to leave the company. When William rejected the demand, he was fired, his wife says.
So, less than a year after their move, the Keelers packed up their family and headed to Texas, where William now runs an e-commerce website for car parts.
The couple was open to having a third baby — Christina always dreamed of having three children, like her mom — and they were both excited when Christina got the positive test result.
But their happiness turned to grief a couple of months later. Christina says the side effects have been painful, both emotionally and physically.
'Your hormones are fluctuating. You are still dealing with nausea and all this stuff, but you know that there's not going to be a baby,' she says. 'So, you have to deal with all the bad parts of pregnancy, but you don't get the good part at the end.'
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While her body was still healing, Christina says she wanted nothing to do with her reborn dolls at first. Later on, she found comfort in taking care of the most recent reborn doll she purchased. It's a boy, just like the baby boy she and her husband had dreamed of.
'Obviously, I know he's not real,' she says. 'I don't really have a baby boy, but I get to do the fun baby boy stuff, get the cute little clothes, get to name him.'
Christina, who has been stroller shopping for the doll, says that even though the experience isn't the same as having a newborn, it does give her "a little nugget of that" same joy.
She adds, 'We've got our baby boy.'
Read the original article on People
