The internet has been reeling over the last few days after a shocking ‘fake baby’ story emerged, where a Scottish woman was accused of attempting to pass off a doll as a newborn baby.
Kira Cousins, from Airdrie in Scotland, reportedly faked her pregnancy, making family, friends, and even the baby’s ‘father’ believe she was carrying a child.
She’s said to have worn a prosthetic baby bump to pull off the elaborate hoax, shared ultrasound images of her scans on social media, and hosted a gender reveal party announcing she was expecting a little girl.
Kira Cousins. Pic: Facebook
The deception
She even reportedly claimed that their unborn daughter had a congenital heart defect, known as AVSD, and later announced the premature ‘birth’ of her daughter, named Bonnie-Leigh Joyce.
However, perhaps the most shocking part of the alleged deception was that after the birth, she used a realistic-looking reborn doll to pass off as her baby, sharing pictures of Bonnie-Leigh online.
Kira shared a post announcing the ‘birth’ of Bonnie-Leigh
An apology
In a now-deleted Instagram story, Kira admitted to faking her pregnancy and apologised to family and friends, saying she ‘wasn’t in a good headspace’.
According to the Daily Record, she wrote: ‘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***** 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.’
@indigoreports The Viral Kira Cousins full story explained #kiracousins #bonnieleigh #whattowatchonnetflix #scandal #reborndoll ♬ Spooky music box horror bgm(813602) – donpachi
Kira went on to apologise specifically to her family and friends who had bought presents for her baby, including a pram worth €1,150, and a car seat and baby bouncer.
She reportedly wrote: ‘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***** 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.’
History repeating itself?
Kira hosted a gender reveal. Pic: Facebook
As Kira’s story was shared time and time again on social media, claims emerged that this mightn’t be the first time she had claimed to have a child. One of Kira’s former Facebook friends alleged to the Daily Mail that in 2023, Kira used ‘stolen’ images of her child to announce a happy arrival called Aurora Rae.
‘She stole pictures of my child off my Facebook page,’ the woman said. ‘I’ve only spoken to her a couple of times, if even that, which is why I have been so shocked to discover what I now have.’
The mum claimed that she was approached by another friend who had seen the photos when the ‘fake baby’ doll story went viral. The friend forwarded screenshots of messages that had apparently been sent by Kira to another friend, showing off a photo of ‘her daughter’, Aurora Rae.
She recognised the baby in the images, saying she ‘felt sick’ after realising her child’s photos had been used.
‘She said she’d received about 15 or 20 pictures from Kira, starting with images taken from the hospital bed when “her” baby was born, up until she was maybe four or five months old,’ the mum added.
She continued: ‘I’ve tried to reach out to Kira for answers but I know she’s never going to answer me and give me a truthful response anyway, so I suppose I’m always going to be left in the dark about the rest of what’s gone on.’