They calm her down. "When you hold a reborn, the realism in the artistry is one of the things that draws you," says Knoppe, 60. "Then they're weighted like a real baby. So when you're holding them ...

"They also think we're obsessed with babies - but a lot of us see these items as we would a soft toy ... I keep mine in a display cabinet - you can't do that with a real baby." As well as collecting ...