What is the mentality which drives our interest in these?

One of the functions served by faux babies is that they offer an alternate dimension of reality, which I think could equally be said about art in general. We forget ourselves in the presence of art ...and as at least one person has contended, "To be happy is to forget oneself."  And indeed, I do. I'm fascinated. I can already recognize thirteen different sculpts by name and on sight. It was not necessary to make an effort in that direction; it would presumably happen to anyone who was watching with interest.

One soon becomes a critic, even if a sympathetic one. I find myself wincing for example when a third or fourth day goes by showing zero bids on one of the babies; that will often be due to inexperience or some unfortunate error in judgement. For example, a foot will be too specific about toes or ankles, which can result in a harpy-like effect. Or a line in the forehead will be overly emphasized by shading, which ages the baby or makes him look furious. Or maybe some capillaries will be delineated instead of being merely suggested. The open-eyed babies are very challenging: one pitfall is a pair of eyes too brightly colored; another is the tendency of eyelashes to look too "dolly" (eyelashes are most often micro-rooted in sleeping faux babies but not in the open-eyed ones).

Those who do reborning are truly walking a tightrope. Some dolls which are called "reborn" are not actually much changed from regular dolls; maybe they have been shaded a little and weighted but they still do not even begin to fool anybody. On the other hand, even an extremely talented artist sometimes errs in the opposite direction, painting TOO MUCH mottling of the complexion, milia, stork bites, and so forth ...and then nobody wants to buy that one either. Why not? Because when a real baby has those irregularities they can reasonably be expected to dissipate within a short time, whereas when they are heat-set they will remain forever.
As we can see, reborning - although a craft in some respects - is a fine art; we most certainly can immerse ourselves in it, and gain some detachment from the onslaught of daily life.

Our interest is also mobilized by a yearning for the ideal child (for lack of a better phrase). Our real life children can disappoint us from time to time -in fact they can genuinely wound us. And even if those things never happen, their very growing up is in itself bittersweet: although sometimes the little kid years seem as though they are lasting for an eternity, it all IS over so very soon. Thus, we are lured almost irresistibly - some of us - by the prospect of a baby who does not grow up ...while at the same time leaving us enough psychological (and actual physical) space to live our own lives, get adequate sleep, and so forth.

And they even keep their outfits clean !

It might be a particular sort of woman who is most susceptible to this yearning for the idealized child. When I was in my early twenties, a friend gave me an extensive personality test which was used in the discipline he was studying ... regarding my relationship with children, he told me that I loved "the IDEA of children more than actual children". That was the tendency of my particular personality type. So, given that it was one of the "types", I'm guessing there must be others with that trait as well. Not that I don't love my children, because I do, fervently. But in some moments I can see the accuracy of his assessment.

And of course, there is the flat out obvious Empty Nest Syndrome ...nearly universal not only among those of us whose last child is nearly grown, but also among those who never could have children in the first place.

I'm sure we all know what Empty Nest Syndrome is but even so, I found a literary snippet which probably says it best: it is from Trinny and Susannah of "What Not to Wear", from their book Trinny and Susannah Take on America. It says, "You were once the center of a vibrant household, but as that household fragmented, your role diminished." Ah. Give me a better definition of Empty Nest Syndrome than that! Yes I know that I now have the time to do more of the things I want, but...

In any event, whether your interest is a consequence of Empty Nest Syndrome, or whether it is a love of art or a love of babies in general, I hope this article has piqued your curiosity about faux babies or resonated with your own experience of them.