Unique Dolls Show Humanity of Unborn Babies

By Liz Townsend

Pro-lifers have long known that hearts and minds can be changed when people hold models of unborn babies and touch the tiny fingers and toes. A New York artist has now taken that concept a step further--creating poseable, lifelike dolls of preborn children based on photos and measurements of actual premature babies.

Catherine Jacobs of Elmira, New York, is an elementary school art teacher. She told NRL News that the idea for the dolls came when she was researching fetal development during a difficult pregnancy seven years ago. Her unborn twins survived two threats to their lives in what Jacobs calls "miracles."

During the third month of pregnancy, she began hemorrhaging and doctors believed the babies had died. Just before they performed a D&C, a last-minute ultrasound found that "the babies were still there and doing OK," according to Jacobs. "God spared their lives that day."

Two months later, Jacobs developed life-threatening pneumonia and had to take strong medicine to save her life. "We didn't know what would happen to the babies," she said. "But it was the second miracle. They were all right."

During this time, Jacobs looked in many books to educate herself about her babies. "I didn't find a lot of pictures," she said. "And the fetal models I saw just didn't do the babies justice -- they didn't look like they were alive."

After her boys, John and Calvin, were born at 32 weeks' gestation in an emergency Caesarean section, Jacobs felt she needed to do something to show people how precious and unique unborn babies are. "So many of us with premature babies know how beautiful these tiny humans are," she said. "It is such a waste, so cruel, when people abort their babies."

She began to experiment with molds and materials to make both fetal development models and poseable dolls, which she calls "God's Little Ones." She created a set of models depicting babies from 3 to 15 weeks' gestation. These models have flat backs and are displayed with text describing the milestones of growth at each stage.

The dolls are much more challenging to create and to cast.

"I use photographs from actual babies or medical books and exact measurements from obstetrical charts," Jacobs said. "Then I make a mold of each part of the body."

After the molds are cast in resin, a hard plastic, the parts are connected in such a way that they can be moved. When the dolls are held, the heads have to be supported, just like real babies.

Many of the dolls are portraits of actual premature babies, some of whom survived their births and some who did not.

A doll named Ben is based on a 14-week-old unborn baby whose family provided photos and measurements for an accurate portrait.

One couple approached Jacobs at a doll show and asked her to create a doll based on their 26-week-old premature baby. "They gave me pictures from birth, all measurements, and footprints," Jacobs told NRL News. "I blew up the photos to full scale and made the doll."

The dolls can be purchased individually or as a set. Jacobs said that a local hospital uses the dolls in sibling classes to show the brothers and sisters of premature babies what their new baby looks like. A midwife also ordered a set. "She uses them for education in her office," Jacobs said. "It shows patients how their babies develop."

Jacobs created a web site that includes photos of the dolls and information about how to order them. As with many grassroots projects, financing is her biggest hurdle, but Jacobs has faith that her dolls will reach more people with the truth about life.

"There is no way I could do this without God helping me," she said. "He's guided me every step of the way."

Even beyond their educational value, the dolls mean so much to the parents who have lost premature babies. "A doll shows that this baby was loved and cherished, even with a short time on earth," she said. "Also, when it is used to save other babies' lives, it makes the pain easier to bear. If one life was saved because someone saw that little baby, it's worth it."

Jacobs's web site can be found at http://www.godslittleones.homestead.com/index.html.