Katie Price's heartbreaking reason for becoming a mum to her 'twin' dolls
Katie Price ’s loyal army of fans could be forgiven for being more than a little confused after she shared a snap of two tiny tots and declaring her twins had "finally arrived ", the 46-year-old former glamour model has insisted that “yes, I do have twins” - and even discussed their names.
But after it was reported that the babies were reborn dolls - which can cost four figures or more - a source tells OK! about the heartache that lies behind Katie’s decision to become a ‘mum’ to these dolls. “She’s been through a lot of trauma in her life and she’s been at her happiest when she’s had her babies,” they said. “It’s her happy place and safe place, but the beauty of them not being real is she can just get on with her life as normal and they don’t keep her up all night."
Katie has revealed in the past that she suffered a miscarriage during her marriage to Peter Andre, and again when she was in a relationship with Carl Woods. In her latest autobiography she addressed the latter, writing: “But having failed IVF and then having IVF only to miscarry is very horrific.”
READ MORE:Peter Andre shares sad family regret as he films new TV series - 'It's not fair'
Earlier, in 2019, she told the Loose Women that she’d had “more than” three miscarriages in her life, and because she was self-employed she “just had to get on with it, you just have to grieve on your own.”
Our source says these losses still weigh heavy on her. “In the absence of real babies, and to cope with the losses she's had in the past, pouring all her efforts and money and time into these two dolls," they claimed.
"She's recreating the feelings of euphoria you have after having a baby. Shopping for baby clothes, posting photos and getting all the comments and likes with people saying 'congratulations'. She's getting a buzz, a rush like you get from a newborn baby high. There's a lot of endorphins and happy hormones going along with all this, which actually will be good for her mental health.”
In an interview last year, Katie claimed she'd been told by her therapist at the Priory that they'd never known anyone "to have so many traumatic events happen to them," adding, "And I’m still here, coping."
Reborn dolls are silicone lifelike ‘babies’, and according to suppliers are often bought by people who’ve lost loved babies themselves. Bianca Cleaver of Ivy Reborns told us: “Our lifelike dolls offer a meaningful way to nurture and bond, providing comfort and a sense of connection. For those longing for motherhood, these dolls can help fulfil that desire, while also serving as a therapeutic outlet for those in grief.”
Despite being in her mid 40s when the chances of becoming pregnant naturally fall to less than five per cent, Katie wrote in her summer autobiography, “I can categorically say - I will be having a baby”. Katie hasn't commented on the dolls publicly and our source claims she’s fully treating them as real-life children.
While the cost of a doll can reach an eye-watering £20,000, they usually retail for around £150 to £300. Customers can choose things like hair colour, whether they have their eyes open or closed, and they usually come with a birth certificate, dummy and one full outfit.
Katie was recently spotted adding to the twin dolls' wardrobe by shopping for designer baby clothes and blankets in a London TK Maxx store. Despite the costs, our source says the former Page 3 star - who was back in court recently after being declared bankrupt over an unpaid £750,000 tax bill, which she said last week she'd "sorted" - would “happily have an army of them”.
“Some of the dolls can cost huge amounts of money but she’s embracing everything that goes with having them like shopping for clothes, giving them cuddles, carrying them around and introducing them as ‘her babies’,” they said. “She’s not bothered by the cost, her maternal instincts are firing and she’s in her element."
Meanwhile, her boyfriend JJ Slater has yet to say anything about the dolls, but our source claims he’s “happy go lucky” in their relationship and will go along with what Katie wants.
As well as the sometimes bemused fan response, there’s also been the odd comment about whether this is all a publicity stunt for an upcoming Channel 4 documentary. Katie - who is already mum to Harvey, 22, Junior, 19, Princess, 17, Jett, 11, and Bunny, 10 - is set to appear in the tell-all show that was filmed when she was trying to conceive through IVF with her now ex, Carl Woods.
She opened up about the experience on her TikTok channel last week, telling fans “I’ve done [IVF] five times and it’s failed, you’ll watch the whole journey…it comes out next year. If you fail IVF there are ways you can still get your babies, trust me, because that’s what I've done.”
According to Stefan Walters, a psychologist specialising in trauma and Brainspotting (similar to EMDR) therapy, developing an attachment to objects such as dolls isn’t necessarily an unhealthy thing and is often used as a therapeutic tool. If Katie is indeed processing any sort of grieving feelings about not successfully getting pregnant with the babies she dreams of, these dolls might help her process some of those emotions.
“These dolls, for many people, can be attachment objects during their time of grieving their children, or a transitional object which is something that helps somebody move on in a relationship", says Stefan. “People are able to project their grief onto the object. These objects, the dolls, might be a way for Katie to process and move through those feelings, and over time she may feel that she needs not to be quite so attached to the objects.”
Katie’s sister Sophie, the co-host of her The Katie Price Show podcast, gave birth to her second child over the weekend - a baby girl who she named Olive Florence Beatrix Brooks. While no doubt it’s extremely happy news for the pair, our source claims it may well be a painful reminder to Katie of what she doesn’t have - but so desperately wants.
“Katie’s talked about having unsuccessful IVF and in the new documentary she’s going to disclose other losses and traumas that she’s never spoken about before."
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this story you can contact Tommy’s, the UK's pregnancy and baby loss charity, for free on 0800 014 7800, or email midwife@tommys.org.
