Those are the scariest dolls I've ever seen and I fear for the mental stability of anyone who want a fake baby that looks EXACTLY like a real baby.

Greetings, friend. Do you wish to look as happy as me? Well, you've got the power inside you right now. So use it. And send $1 to Happy Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Don't delay; eternal happiness is just $1 away!

@wallspray: As I tell my co-workers, I do "gush" over children and babies. But only ones I have a "connection" with. So my relatives and neighbors babies, I adore. My co-workers kids kids....well, I feel the same I do about a picture in a picture frame. As long as it's healthy, I really don't have any emotion either way looking at a photo.

As for those dolls, I agree. The nice thing about babies it they get cuter as they grow. Those look like a snap shot from a nursery right after the birth, when even Bill Cosby said, "My wife gave birth to a lizard. It changed colors. I asked the doctor if we could put it back in and let it cook a little longer".

@hypnotik_jello: I'd rather have the dollar.

@wallspray: I'm told that some people commission one to look like a baby that's died. Part of me hopes that's a myth, but part of me thinks that's so fantastically Victorian that it makes sense.

@hypnotik_jello:
Hmmmmmm

One dollar for eternal happiness. Mmmm... I'd be happier with the
dollar.

I get requests for money all the time because I used to review one-click/free donate style charities. People seem to actually think that if they send me a badly-written (it's NEVER well-written) story of woe, I'll send them money or goods or whatever.

I always thought they must be stupid to think I'd fall for it. Apparently, I was wrong...they just targeted the wrong audience.

There's a community drive for a sick kid near me and I haven't given to that either even though it's almost certainly real, not because I don't care, but because I feel more secure and less prone to favouritism if I give to a charity that would cover this kid and others like him instead. That way when there's another sick and uninsured kid in a few months, nobody can say, "Well you gave that kid $100 so you'd better give mine $100" and accuse me of who-knows-what-kind of discrimination if I don't.

Plus, um, really...there should be universal, single-payer, government health care for all of these pregnancies and kids anyway. I'd rather pay it by taxes. None of my friends back home in Canada have to live with guilt and awkwardness about a kid in their playgroup being untreated for lack of insurance...

@wallspray: There was a BBC America special about it. You might be able to find the video somewhere. [www.truenorthproductions.co.uk]

It's called My Fake Baby
It was sad and creepy.

@floraposte: Did you ever see the BBC special?
[www.bbcamerica.com]

@hypnotik_jello: +5. Awesome.

@hypnotik_jello: Wait! What state are you in?

@Tankueray: The weird part is watching them get cooked. Talk about a bun in the oven!

@wallspray: Those things freak me the hell out. Talk about the uncanny valley!

@HasADealForYou_GitEmSteveDave: She bought a doll with the same name as her dead child? And now treats it as if the doll is her real child. Someone should be stepping in and helping her deal with her loss.

@Galactica: ohiyamaude

Can't she be prosecuted for this? I mean you can be prosecuted for wire and mail fraud, you should be for this also.

She never went and solicited people directly for money, it's bad taste and crass, but you can't put people in jail for that. If you could, HOW MANY would be in jail now?

@wallspray: But in fairness, and in all due respect to Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!), newborn babies look terribly ugly. You can see the potential in them, to be kinda cute later on, but at that time, its all loose skin, weirdly contorted bodies, and ET necks. Then they start molting skin. It is only a few weeks into their lives that they start looking sooo adorable and kissable. I've taken pics of my nephew at few hours old, and a few months old, and every time i compare them, im like "how could someone so beautiful have come from something so horrifying?".

I am sure my wife will be extremely pissed of at me whenever we have a baby, because i'll look at the baby and will invariably say something like "OH GOD ITS SO UGLY. MY EYES!! ZESE GOGGLES, ZAY DO NOTHING!!!"

@wallspray: There's even less proof of her previous baby than there was for this fake one.

@sanjsrik:

Of course you can put people in jail for that. We have before and she should join them.

@MostlyHarmless:

Also, about 5:00 in:

ah great she's from Mokena. That's like 6 miles from me.

This is why i don't give to people on the street. i'd rather just donate to foundations, i donate my old clothes to Goodwill/Salvation Army and money goes to St. Jude. Then I know that it's going to help more than just one person (who may or may not need it). Working in downtown chicago kind of makes you think twice about giving to people on the street.

Also... GO SOX!

@floraposte: Man I didn't even think about that.

@sanjsrik: Yes you can. It's called "froud"(It's a Simpsons reference). It's also called "theft by deception". In the case of the internet, it's a Federal Crime called "wire froud".

@wallspray: Dear God I hate dolls.

@HasADealForYou_GitEmSteveDave: family guy. when nigel burns down the bar. "This is a classic textbook case of... Fraoud" sorry :)

To be fair, she never solicited money. Feel free to make fun of her, excoriate her, whatever, but she did not solicit donations on behalf of her dolly.

@Fanboy1217:

She never solicited actively for money. She never said, "give me money for my baby and myself." What people "donated" they did unsolicited.

She lied via the web. that's it.

@MostlyHarmless: This was the benefit of having mine arrive C-section -- he looked like a BABY right off the bat, with no conehead or bruised face or disturbing skin or anything.

(Also he was 7 lbs. 13 oz. but REALLY short since there wasn't a lot of room in there for him, so he was actually born with some nice baby fat instead of creepy spindly limbs.)

I'm still concerned that there might be a real child encased in that plastic doll. Is she still accepting donations?

@wallspray: It's no more creepy than going out to kill a live animal then having it stuffed so you can hang it on a wall or something.

These dolls are often used in film and photography, usually in situations where action will put the real child at risk, or as a stand-in since real infants can be used only for very limited amounts of time in a day.

i can't believe she didn't get a picture of a real baby. this kind of shotty workmanship is why all of our decent scamming jobs are going overseas to Nigeria.

@AngryK9: Did I say it wasn't creepy to kill a live animal and stuff it and hang it on the wall? No, I think they are both creepy.

And lets guess... what percent of these dolls are sold to be stand-in babies? Maybe 5%? 10%? Seriously, the majority of these are being sold to be Mommies lil complex.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SO STUPID. WHY MAY I ASK WOULD YOU GIVE ANYONE MONEY THAT YOU MET ONLINE??? WHY?????? HOW DUMB IS THE ONLINE WORLD?

@gqcarrick: I don't think so, she didn't solicit money for a purpose. Had she said the money was specifically for the care of the child or for any specific purpose, then she could be. But if people just read it and send money to the PO Box, then tough luck.

@yoni242: Hey it's not like she was from Nigeria or some other scary country, she was from the good ole U. S. and A.

She didn't solicit but she did set up a PO Box for 'well-wishers'. Doesn't take much reading between the lines for that one.

@TripleTheOrder_GitEmSteveDave: I did. It creeped me way out.

@yoni242: If only life can provide you a mirror.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Same deal here with both of the Siren spawn. They looked nice and normal, no redness, no squashed face.

I am taking up donations for a tragic condition. My left foot is very flaky looking, as if it is all dried out. The nails are uneven and slightly yellowish. There is a large corn on the side of my big toe. Please send contributions to PO Box...

Of course this will illicit a big negative response, but in my experiences, no one is more gullible than a highly religious person. It seems most of the people taken in by this hoax were sent over from religious sites. I worked at a christian school for years. About 90% of the employees there were raised in highly religious christian schools as well. I had never seen so many people wrapped up in money pyramids, scams, etc. A lot of them honestly believed anything they heard. One guy ordered 2 food processors from tv because it said it could chop cement. Any sob letter that came across the internet was immediately believed and prayers were sent out (and donations). Just stick "God" in front of whatever you are trying to sell, and they were in like flint.

@Fanboy1217: Damn! I thought it was Hutz.

@sanjsrik: From the article:

She posted a P.O. Box, to which readers could send gifts or money

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): As we know, nothing on the internet ever goes away, so your little bundle of joy may log on in 15 years and find that you were grateful it didn't come out with "creepy spindly limbs" - something which made me laugh really hard...in my cubicle.

It is great to know that so many people still can care about the well being of a stranger.

It is sad that so many of these strangers in need turn out to be scam artists. Scam artists who draw down the capital of goodwill available for people in real need.

It is remarkable that so many people believe what they read online and are overwhelmed by the need to crack open their wallets and send money to people who spin a great yarn.

I would like you all to send me $1 to cover my costs in coming up with these observations... Please send to 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield...

@Fanboy1217: I don't either. BUTTTT, I will pay for a performance. I once had a guy walk up to me and my GF at the time in Newark Penn Station and he had an armful of papers/documents and started off on a whole story about how someone in his family was ill and had AIDS and started rattling off things and how he had to show up to the address on this document to handle a court matter, etc... On the off chance it wasn't true, the "performance" he gave was more than worth the few dollars I gave him. He went the full 9 yards.

@Skankingmike: It was called YouTube audio preview :( RIP.

Now if only consumerist were to steal it...

@craptastico: Well played, you get a heart clicky for that.

@TripleTheOrder_GitEmSteveDave: When handed someone's baby, I'll cuddle it. How else will I know whether it'll make for good BBQ eating?

@pecan 3.14159265: Worse, a subsequent bundle of joy who DID have spindly limbs may read it ....