A 22-year-old woman from Scotland has confessed to faking an entire pregnancy — even attempting to convince family and friends that a silicone doll was her baby.

Kira Cousins publicly apologised this week after her elaborate deception was exposed and quickly went viral on social media.

Fake baby ‘mum’ is said to have signed up for an explosive, tell-all TV documentary about the scandal after fleeing her home.

“I’m so sorry,” Cousins wrote in a now-deleted Instagram story obtained by the Daily Record. “I wasn’t pregnant. There was no baby. I made it all up and took it way too far. I faked scans, messages, a whole birth story, and pretended a doll was real.”
For months, Cousins managed to deceive her loved ones — including the man she claimed was the father — into believing she was expecting a daughter named Bonnie-Leigh Joyce, allegedly born on October 10.

To maintain the illusion, Cousins wore a prosthetic baby bump, staged a gender reveal celebration, and frequently shared photos on social media posing as an expectant mother. She even posted ultrasound images and claimed her unborn child had a heart defect.

After announcing that she had given birth alone, Cousins began showcasing the “baby,” which was later revealed to be a hyper-realistic Reborn Doll. The truth came out when her mother discovered the doll hidden in her cousin’s bedroom last week.

Before admitting the truth, Cousins reportedly told the supposed father that the infant had died — a claim that raised suspicions among friends and relatives who noted they had never heard the baby cry or been allowed to hold it.

The revelation sparked outrage online, with several acquaintances labelling her a “serial liar.”

In her apology, Cousins attempted to explain how the deception was so convincing. “In everyone else’s defence, the doll could move. You could change its facial features, arms, and legs,” she wrote. “You could even feed it to make it ‘pee or poo.’ From a distance, no one would think it wasn’t real.”

Reborn Dolls — lifelike baby replicas that can cost up to $2,000 — are often used for therapeutic purposes, helping people cope with infertility, infant loss, or dementia.

In recent years, however, they have also become part of a growing subculture where collectors treat them as real infants, even taking them out in public and posing with them online.