Children with disabilities get mini me dolls

“Every child deserves to see his or her own face in the face of a doll”, says Amy Jandrisevits who makes it her business to recreate a child’s physical differences in their toy.

Preschooler Keagan with his doll 'Chip'. Credit: A Doll Like Me

Whether they have missing arms or legs, unusual birth marks, burns or scars, Ms Jandrisevits sends children around the world a doll she has made to look just like them to make children with disabilities feel more accepted.

The mother of three from Wisconsin in the US founded ‘A Doll Like Me’ in 2014 to ensure children receive the gift of a doll in their own image.

A doll’s perfect health does 'kids a disservice’

She recalls once handing out donated toys at a children’s hospital where she worked as a social worker in a pediatric cancer ward. “In my time working with the kids, I used dolls in play therapy to help the children express themselves. Dolls are therapeutic in so many ways - ways that I'm not sure we fully understand. It is a human likeness and by extension, a representation of the child who loves it. Dolls have a power that I think no other toy has.”

Dolls made include a pair made for two daughters with albinism.

But Ms Jandrisevits remembers feeling uncomfortable giving a child with no hair a doll with flowing locks. "It’s hard to tell a child that they are beautiful", she says, "if they never see a toy like them".

“One day I realized that the dolls’ thick hair and perfect health were doing the kids I was working with a disservice as they were often faced with a wide variety of physical challenges. Many kids have never had the opportunity to see their sweet faces reflected in a doll.

“I am a doll-maker who feels that every kid, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, medical issue, or body type, should have a doll who looks like them. I have always been disappointed in the lack of diversity in dolls. So, as my mom taught me, if you don't like it, do something about it.”

A girl transitioning to be a boy

Four years ago, Ms Jandrisevits began by making what she calls ‘non-traditional’ Raggedy Ann dolls for all types of children including transgender kids.

“My favourite was a Raggedy Ann for a little girl who was transitioning - green cropped hair and a Ninja Turtle outfit.

“A friend of a friend saw it and shared him. A woman whose daughter had just had a leg amputated reached out and asked if I could make a doll for her. Shortly after I made it, I had 200 orders in two months”.

Pre-schooler Keagan was born with moles all over his little body. Black marks can be seen covering his face, chest, arms and legs, but he has not stopped smiling since his doll ‘Chip’ arrived in the post. His mum said: “He LOVES his doll we’ve affectionately named chip”.

‘This isn’t just a business, it’s the right thing to do’

Ms Jandrisevits spends her days stitching dolls' bodies into unfamiliar shapes, making cochlear implants or creating an albino look – as was the case for a mother with two daughters with albinism.

Doll maker Amy Jandrisevits. Credit: A Doll Like Me. Since her company ‘A Doll Like Me‘, launched in 2014, Ms Jandrisevits has personally handmade more than 300 dolls from her dining room and she has many children still on her waiting list.

Hers is a “one-person business...meaning that I design, sew, mail, and email”.

The doll maker decided to set up a GoFundMe page to let the public donate money to fund the making of a child’s doll, for those who can’t afford it. The doll is then sent to the child - wherever they are in the world.

With a doll costing $85-$100 to make and deliver she explains: “Typically, parents or caregivers pay for the dolls. When they can’t afford it, I’ll find a way to cover it myself.”

Funds raised are used to pay for materials and shipping to cover the cost of dolls sent all over the world to children whose parents can’t afford it. Money raised also pays for dolls at a children's hospital, where staff identify kids who might benefit from having a doll for comfort, as they go through their medical care.

Amy often creates dolls with missing limbs. Credit: A Doll Like Me

“Ultimately, I don’t want any parent to have to pay for something that’s so important. If we’re going to look at mental health as a necessary part of medical care, this is key. If you want validation and play therapy, you need these dolls. My ultimate goal is to fulfill every doll order that comes in and not have the families have to pay for it.

“Whatever it costs, whatever I have to do, I’m going to get a doll in the hands of these children. This isn’t just a business. It’s the right thing to do.”

So far $34,072 has been raised on her GolFundMe page (to date 6 February). The target is £50,000. One woman Sandy Lorenzo who donated $20 posted on the GoFundMe page wrote: ‘My son has cancer...I understand the struggles these kids have...This is such a remarkable idea...God Bless You.’

’At 28 years old, it still made me cry’

Jenny Marquis wrote on Ms Jandrisevits’ Facebook page ‘A Doll Like Me’: “As someone with a limb difference, you don’t realize how amazing it is to have a ‘doll like you’ until you get one. I received mine 2 years ago at 28 years old and it still made me cry. A Doll Like Me is absolutely amazing. My six-year-old carries around my doll and calls it her 'mommy doll'."

Ms Jandrisevits posting on her Facebook page writes: ‘I was asked today about why I think donated dolls are so important. This is why...this is what a donated doll looks like in the arms of her person. It is a tangible way to share kindness and make a difference for even one person.’

Doll maker says 'the pictures speak for themselves'. Credit: A Doll Like Me. Ms Jandrisevits’ efforts led to her being selected as GoFundMe's hero of the month in December 2018. On her Facebook page she wrote: ‘It is an honor to be recognized for what is my labor of love AND it is awesome that other people believe in the power of representation.

‘On the one side, dolls are validating for the little people they reflect. And on the other side, dolls are a tangible way to share kindness and demonstrate acceptance. These children are perfect just the way they are! I am humbled and grateful and excited to keep sewing.’

Hope may be far older than a pre-schooler for whom the gift of a doll is common, but her reaction upon seeing a doll that looks like her was just as dramatic. She has Poland Syndrome, a rare condition which is classically characterized by an absence of chest wall muscles on one side of the body and abnormally short, webbed fingers of the hand on the same side.

In a video capturing Hope’s reaction to her doll, it is the sight of the doll's hands that makes her hug the doll and break down and cry.

Hope’s mom wrote to thank the doll maker: ‘There are not many places where you can have a custom doll made with limb differences and have him or her look exactly like the person who LOVES it!!! Hope absolutely loves it and it looks identical to my beautiful girl!! Thank you soooo much!!!’

Ms Jandrisevits says: “Behind every doll is an incredible, touching, and sometimes heartbreaking story. The other day someone asked me why I think dolls can be so meaningful. I answered this exact way: I prefer to let pictures speak for themselves”.

To donate to the GoFundMe page for A Doll Like Me, click here