The AI video was one of many alleged deceptions by Kira Cousins, 22, who was also accused of staging a gender reveal with pink confetti and posing with a fake baby bump for months
A woman allegedly took her fake pregnancy to a disturbing new level by using artificial intelligence to make her “baby” appear alive in a video she shared with loved-ones.
Kira Cousins was said to have posted the clip online, showing what looked like a newborn wriggling while asleep. The AI video was one of many deceptions by the 22-year-old, who was also accused of staging a gender reveal with pink confetti, posed with a fake baby bump for months and shared photos of baby clothes on social media.
She also showed off a £1,000 pram said to be bought by her family and earlier sent a video of herself moving her stomach to imitate a baby kicking.
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Kira allegedly announced the birth in a social media post in October, and was then accused of using a realistic reborn doll to deceive others into thinking she’d welcomed a baby girl, who she named Bonnie-Leigh.
Her story began to unravel when her mum reportedly found the “baby” alone in her bedroom and realised it wasn’t moving, crying or behaving like an infant. Kira later admitted her mum “found it to be a doll”.
She said in a post on TikTok: “In my own words let’s set this straight. I was in bed when my mother came into my room and found it to be a doll. The next thing I know, I was confronted by all the family… Neither did Jamie’s [family] [..] Don’t for one minute think they let me get away with this. THEY HAVEN’T.”
Reborn dolls are hyper-realistic, handcrafted art dolls meticulously designed to look and feel like a real baby. While traditional reborn dolls do not move on their own, some newer and higher end models can include electronic features – like built-in heartbeats, cooing sounds, or gentle breathing motions.
Separately, a number of owners are known to use AI, digital filters and camera effects to make the doll appear to move, blink or kick in videos – even thought the physical doll itself is static. The process of making one is known as “reborning”, while the doll artists are referred to as “reborners”. The dolls can be purchased for between £30 and £2,000.
The moving “baby” was posted to a TikTok montage viewed more than three million times. Kira’s pal Naeve McRobert, who shared the clip, said she realised something wasn’t right when she “noticed Kira had deleted every picture and video of Bonnie-Leigh from our chats.”
She added: “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.”