American Gina Casoff opens her eyes every morning to the sound of her alarm, quickly rising to the children's room where "Pippa" with her blonde braided hair and bright blue eyes waits for her to tenderly lift her up and whisper in her ear "Good morning, my love," then she goes to wake up the rest of her 19 other children. However, there is one detail that makes this motherhood scene completely different: all Gina's children are not human; they are dolls with astonishing realistic features.
From a personal hobby to a real fortune
Casoff dubbed herself "Mother of the Dolls" and lives in St. Louis, Missouri. She has turned her unusual passion into a highly profitable project, revealing that she made over two hundred thousand dollars in just one year from her YouTube channel, surpassing what she and her husband earned together throughout their entire careers.
This forty-year-old mother, who is married with five real grown children, owns a collection of "Reborn" dolls made from premium vinyl and silicone, carved and hand-painted with extreme precision that makes them look like real infants. She started collecting them since 2020, and their prices range from $2,000 to $10,000 per doll, depending on the particular details of each one.
A virtual world with real details
Casoff launched her channel "Dolls Are Not Real" in March 2024, and began sharing her unique motherhood daily routine, where she feeds her dolls, changes their diapers, dresses them in new clothes, and gives each one of them a distinctive personality and voice. She even takes them on real shopping trips to buy clothes, food, and children's necessities.
The audience embraced her content with tremendous interest, turning the channel into a source of income just two weeks after its launch. Over 30,000 subscribers eagerly follow routine mornings, theatrical school activities, bath times, sick days, and holiday celebrations with these non-human children, despite filming and editing each clip taking over 5 hours.
Touching messages from young girls
"Mother of the Dolls" reveals that most of her audience are young girls under the age of 12, who send her touching messages through her mailbox, writing "Gina, can you be my mom?" or "Gina, my dad left our house last month" or "Gina, I love you so much, can I call you Auntie?" This made her realize that her content is not just entertainment, but a source of comfort and love to these girls.
Apart from children, grown women follow her who use Reborn dolls as therapeutic tools to deal with loss, miscarriage, infertility, or loneliness, moving Casoff to embrace a personal mission to destigmatize this hobby.
Fighting against criticism and mockeries
"Mother of the Dolls" faces a fierce wave of criticism across social media, where some describe her as "incredibly spooky," "sad," and "disturbing." Yet, she responds with a rhetorical question: "Has our society reached a point where we see grown men playing video games and dressing up in Renaissance festivals and Civil War reenactments, while I am attacked for promoting my tender hobby?"
She firmly adds: "If men can play with children's toys, why can't women embrace their nurturing side and play with dolls? It's double standards."
According to the "New York Post", psychologist Leslie Quebble from New York supports Casoff's stance, explaining that adult women playing with dolls is not necessarily pathological but can be a form of creative play, nostalgia, stress relief, or a soothing therapeutic outlet. As long as it doesn’t interfere with daily functions or relationships, any activity that brings comfort and happiness should be normalized instead of being viewed as a pathological condition.
"Pippa" is the closest and "Mother of the Dolls" doesn’t waste resources
Gina confirms that "Pippa," the two-year-old blonde doll with a bold and cheerful personality, holds a special place in her heart, as she derived her traits from her youngest real daughter, Sofia, who is 16. She has become the undeniable star of the channel, enjoying special shopping tours where Casoff buys real clothes, food, and daily necessities like diapers and bandages.
Casoff also assures that she does not waste resources in her videos; the baby milk she feeds to her dolls is expired, obtained from local food banks, any food she prepares she eats herself, and she reuses yogurt containers and diapers and fills medicine bottles with water. As for new clothes, she later donates them to friends and second-hand stores.
"Mother of the Dolls" concluded her comments to critics: "I present family content for young girls and middle-aged women everywhere, do not look for deep meanings, just watch the show," while she continues to earn thousands of dollars from her virtual world that has become a highly profitable reality.
