Brazil's lifelike doll craze goes from shopping malls to state legislatures

SAO PAULO -- Videos featuring affectional moments with hyper-realistic babe dolls person sparked some online fascination and governmental statement successful Brazil, with lawmakers adjacent bringing the lifelike dolls into legislatures.

Influencers person staged situations specified arsenic commencement simulations and strolls successful buying malls with the hand-crafted babe figures, known arsenic “reborn" dolls, creating videos that person gone viral.

In Rio de Janeiro, the metropolis assembly has passed a measure honoring those who marque the lifelike dolls, pending Mayor Eduardo Paes' signature. Meanwhile, legislators elsewhere crossed the state person debated fines for those seeking aesculapian assistance for specified dolls, pursuing a video allegedly showing a pistillate taking 1 to a hospital.

Lawmakers person brought the dolls into legislative chambers.

On Tuesday, Joao Luiz, a authorities lawmaker from Amazonas, appeared with a doll astatine the State House to denote plans to prohibition reborn dolls from receiving attraction successful the state’s nationalist wellness system. However, section media reported that wellness authorities had ne'er recorded immoderate specified cases.

Last week, congresswoman Talíria Petrone criticized the attraction her colleagues were giving to the issue. “Can we absorption connected what truly matters? If idiosyncratic wants to person a doll, fto them. I person 2 existent children and they’re much than capable work,” she said.

Dozens of “reborn mothers” gathered astatine Villa Lobos Park, successful Sao Paulo, connected Saturday for a 10th yearly meet-up. Participants accidental disapproval should beryllium aimed astatine attention-seeking influencers, not the broader community.

The hyper-realistic babe dolls are often utilized for grief therapy oregon parenting practice.

Berenice Maria, a nursing adjunct and longtime collector who owns 8 dolls, says they connection affectional comfort. “I emotion reborns, contempt the hatred we spot retired there,” she said. “I privation the close to spell retired with them … spell to the mall, spell to the park.”

Daniela Baccan, co-owner of a reborn doll store successful Campinas, Sao Paulo, said dolls merchantability from 700 reais ($124) to astir 10,000 reais (nearly $1,800).

With the rising controversy, information concerns are increasing.

“We’re locking up the store more, adding cameras,” Baccan said. “But astatine the aforesaid time, online request has increased, and the store is seeing a overmuch higher travel of people.”

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