My 250 'babies'

Sylvia shows off her brood of realistic-looking reborn dolls

- JULIA SIDWELL

Sylvia Heszterterenyiova loves all of her children equally... and she's always got one in the oven.

Literally, in her case - the 50-year-old produces lifelike baby dolls by baking them.

It all started 10 years ago, when her real children Veroninka and Sofia, now 31 and 27 got their mum her first "reborn" doll for her 40th birthday.

Now Sylvia describes herself as a mum to 250 babies, referring to her massive and expanding collection of realistic reborns.

She says: "When my daughters were little, I relished every moment of changing their nappies, dressing them in cute outfits and rocking them to sleep.

"When they grew up, I missed doing all those things, so this was the perfect solution.

"On my 40th birthday, I heard the doorbell ring. I rushed to answer the door. There was no one there. Just a basket sitting on the doorstep.

"I crouched down, pulled the blanket back and gasped.

"The cutest face looked back at me. And a card that read 'I'm Isabella, will you take care of me?'

"The baby had tiny curled fingers, rosebud lips and plump cheeks. I'd heard about reborns before and seen them in magazines. I'd never seen one in real life. Yet now I had my very own."

After that, there was no stopping Sylvia, from Sydney, Australia. She was in love with reborns.

And she is not the only one when mum-of-five Katie Price, 46, posted a picture of herself with twin babies, her fans wondered what was going on.

One snap was captioned: "Evening cuddles with my boy."

Another was described as: "Multitasking with my baby girl."