Kira Cousins, from Airdrie in Scotland, fooled her her loved-ones into believing a plastic doll was her newborn baby having spent months wearing a fake bump
A woman who faked that she had a baby to her family and friends has now reportedly fled her home and gone into hiding.
Kira Cousins from Airdrie in Scotland has been bombarded by hateful messages online after she fooled her loved-ones into believing a plastic doll was her newborn baby. She had spent months wearing a fake bump to give the impression she was pregnant before she pretended to give birth alone.
The 22-year-old was eventually rumbled after family members discovered her tiny daughter, named Bonnie-Leigh Joyce, was in fact a realistic Reborn doll, when Kira’s mum found it in her bedroom.
People close to Kira had splashed out on gifts for the baby and many were left angered. And it is claimed that to escape the storm, she has now left the house she shares with her mum in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
“We haven’t seen her in days. Everyone is just wanting questions answered, as to why she would do such a thing,” a former friend told The Sun. “She obviously needs serious help. Her mother was heartbroken and I don’t think they’re speaking. She is an only child, so this was the first ‘grandchild’. It’s just a very sad situation and people are worried about her.”
Kira posted images of baby scans and videos of her lavish gender reveal party in the leadup to the “birth” on October 10. She claimed to have given birth to her “daughter”, weighing 5lbs 4oz.
In the weeks before, Kira uploaded what is believed to be AI-generated footage of the “baby” kicking in her tummy and a series of pictures of newborn clothes and items loved ones bought, including a £1,000 pram and a car seat. She also described hospital visits, even claiming that ante-natal tests had picked up a heart defect in her baby.
Kira eventually shared a post saying: “I wasn’t pregnant. There was no baby. I made it up and kept it going way too far. I faked scans, messages, a whole birth story, and acted like a doll was a real baby.
“I know how bad it is, I f****d up. I just didn’t know how to stop once I started. I don’t have a proper excuse. I wasn’t in a good headspace, but that doesn’t make what I did okay. I know this is gonna stick with me for a long time and that I’ve probably lost friends I’ll never get back.
“I’m trying to figure myself out and get help because this version of me isn’t someone I want to be. I know I’ve ruined a lot of trust and that “sorry” won’t fix everything but it’s all I can say right now.”
Kira went on to apologise to all of her loved-ones who she lied to. She continued: “I’m so sorry. You were there for me through it all. You cried happy tears, picked me up, brought me places, believed everything I said.
“You didn’t deserve to be lied to like that. None of you did. Everyone who came to the gender reveal, all the people who gave me gifts or support – I f****d up and I hurt a lot of people. And to everyone I made look bad along the way – the dad and his family especially – I’m sorry. I made you out to be horrible people when really, I was the one in the wrong. Completely.”
Pal Neave McRobert noted that those closest to Kira first became suspicious after no one had heard the “baby” cry in a video filmed on October 16. She also told of how Kira refused to let anyone touch her as she claimed Bonnie-Leigh had recently visited Wishaw General Hospital for checks due to ill-health.
Neave said: “I noticed Kira had deleted every picture and video of Bonnie-Leigh from our chats. I asked her why and she ignored me. I then asked the baby’s dad ‘Is this a doll?’ and he said, ‘Yes, it’s a doll.’ She even went to the extreme of texting him saying, ‘Bonnie-Leigh died’.
“I can’t imagine how he must feel right now and everyone else who has been lied to for months and months. Everybody believed her. She had a gender reveal, she posted scan photos and even said the baby had a hole in its heart. Then she texted me saying the baby was born. We were all so happy.”
Screenshots of Neave’s conversations with Kira about Bonnie-Leigh were shared online, alongside others showing the doll in a series of now-deleted posts from the “new mum”. Neave also spoke about how she met “baby” Bonnie-Leigh when she took her former friend and the doll to a supermarket.
She continued: “I feel worse because I’m one of the few people to meet this ‘baby’. I feel totally used and drained. Everyone got conned by her.”