Jess Ellis, the proud mom of 13 toy babies, shares her day-to-day life, as well as her doll creation hobby, with her TikTok followers.
In May 2020, Jess Ellis began her collection of reborn dolls, lifelike toy replicas of infants, during a period of feeling lonely. Ellis, hailing from East London, shared that her deep affection for babies and the soothing feeling of cradling one led her to this hobby. Her journey into this unique pastime commenced with the purchase of her initial doll, Rebecca, a one-month-old girl, for approximately $300. This marked the beginning of her growing fascination with reborn dolls.
After Rebecca, Ellis expanded her collection with the addition of Sam, a ’newborn,’ which she acquired in November 2020. Subsequently, she welcomed June, another 1-month-old; Brooklyn, an 8-month-old; Manuela, Zain, Lilly, Annalese, Aria, all in newborn forms; and Cookie, who was crafted to resemble a ’premature’ baby. Charlie, a 1-year-old, and Pippa, also 1-year-old, joined the collection. Furthermore, she introduced another doll, also named June, but this one aged 4.
In total, Jess Ellis invested approximately $7.5K in her distinctive assortment of 13 dolls. Her most costly acquisition was Cookie, a doll designed to imitate a premature baby girl, which came at a price exceeding $2K.
Jess Ellis’s fiancé, Avery Raassen, a 33-year-old pastry chef, is known to be exceptionally supportive of her unique hobby. He actively participates in caring for the 13 ’babies’ they both cherish, assisting in dressing them up and tending to their diapers. Ellis mentioned that despite Raassen’s initial lack of experience in changing diapers or handling infants, his confidence grew as he interacted with these lifelike dolls.
However, Ellis emphasizes her clear understanding of the distinction between these dolls and real infants. She acknowledges, “I also recognize that these are not real babies and I often leave them in places you definitely should not leave a real baby — like a table or sofa.”
More recently, Jess Ellis has transformed her passion into a part-time venture aimed at contributing to the reborn doll community. She began crafting and selling reborn dolls online around four months ago, inspired by her long-standing interest in the field. Jess shared that the process typically takes about three weeks, with intermittent work, and she has generated a few thousand in earnings during this time.
Recalling her journey, Ellis mentioned, “I started making them four months ago, I have been thinking about it for a while. I wanted to see if I could create quite lifelike ones — I got a kit where they send everything you need to make one doll.” Initially, the experience proved challenging, but she discovered immense satisfaction in the process, even taking the initiative to strip and repaint the first doll she created.
