In one of the most bewildering modern hoaxes to emerge from social media, a 22-year-old woman from Airdrie, Scotland, has admitted to faking her pregnancy for nine months—going so far as to host a gender reveal party, fabricate hospital updates, and finally introduce her family to what she claimed was her newborn daughter. The shocking twist? The “baby” was a lifelike reborn doll. The elaborate deception, orchestrated by Kira Cousins, has left her friends, family, and partner reeling after months of manipulation and lies that blurred the line between delusion and deceit.
Over the course of nearly a year, Kira Cousins constructed a false narrative of motherhood through meticulously staged photos, videos, and social media posts. She shared scan images, displayed an ever-growing “baby bump,” and uploaded clips that seemed to show her unborn child moving inside her belly. What began as an online fantasy spiralled into a public spectacle that deceived dozens, if not hundreds, of people who genuinely celebrated her supposed journey into motherhood.
A Social Media Pregnancy That Never Existed
Kira Cousins’ story began like many others in the age of curated online lives—an announcement, followed by regular updates designed to inspire emotional engagement. Her Instagram page became a chronicle of her supposed pregnancy: posts of ultrasound scans, videos of her belly appearing to move, and tender captions about her excitement for the arrival of her daughter, whom she named Bonnie-Leigh Joyce. The illusion was complete with carefully chosen details, from claims of hospital visits to anecdotes about the baby’s health.
She even hosted a lavish pink-themed gender reveal party attended by friends and family, during which she announced she was expecting a girl. Guests showered her with gifts, including a £1,000 pram, baby clothes, and nursery items. Every visible sign pointed to the joyful anticipation of a young woman preparing for motherhood.
According to reports, Kira Cousins told followers and loved ones that she gave birth alone to a baby weighing around two kilograms, claiming that the child was born with a heart condition. She shared images of newborn clothes, hospital monitors, and carefully staged photos that appeared to depict a tiny baby resting peacefully. To anyone following her posts, the story seemed entirely believable.
However, doubts began to surface when those close to her noticed inconsistencies. The “baby” never cried, never moved naturally, and Kira Cousins refused to let anyone hold her. She deflected questions by saying that her daughter was fragile and undergoing hospital checks due to health complications. While many initially respected her privacy, suspicions grew too large to ignore.
22 year old Scottish woman Kira Cousins admits faking entire pregnancy even buying a silicone doll to pose as her newborn. She staged scans, a gender reveal, and a fake birth later claiming the “baby” died. The hoax was exposed when her mother found the doll. pic.twitter.com/BxkQguuLU5
— nicoraskinssocks (@raskinssocks) October 22, 2025
It was only when Cousins’ mother reportedly discovered the silicone doll at home that the full extent of the deception was revealed. Soon after, the man she had identified as the baby’s father learned the truth, followed by a wave of friends who felt betrayed and humiliated by her lies. Screenshots circulating online appeared to show Kira Cousins falsely messaging the supposed father that their “baby had died,” an act that intensified outrage among those she had deceived.
The Confession: ‘I Made It Up and Kept It Going Way Too Far’
When confronted, Kira Cousins publicly confessed to her deception in a now-deleted Instagram story. Her statement, quoted by The Mirror, read like a mixture of shame, regret, and disbelief at her own actions. “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**d up. I just didn’t know how to stop once I started.”
Her confession continued with an acknowledgment of the harm she had caused: “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.”
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Kira Cousins went on to apologise to those she deceived, especially her family, friends, and the man she falsely claimed was her child’s father. “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. 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.”
In a further message, she admitted how far the deception had gone: “Everyone who came to the gender reveal, all the people who gave me gifts or support—I f**d 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.”
What made the deception so convincing, Kira Cousins said, was the realism of the reborn doll she used. These dolls, often crafted from silicone or vinyl, are designed to look and feel identical to real newborns. “In everyone else’s defence, the doll could move. You could change the facial features, arms and legs. You could feed the doll making it ‘pee or poo’. So when no one is close to the doll, it does look real. No one was looking at my ‘baby’ expecting it to be a doll,” she explained.
Her comments revealed both the depth of her deceit and the eerie believability of modern reborn dolls, which have become increasingly popular among collectors and those seeking emotional comfort. Prices for these hyper-realistic creations range from £30 to more than £2,000, with some even equipped with mechanisms that mimic breathing or gentle movements.
Reactions from Friends, Family, and the Wider Public
The fallout from Kira Cousins’ confession was swift and deeply emotional. Friends who had supported her through the supposed pregnancy described feelings of anger, betrayal, and disbelief. One of her former close friends, Neave McRobert, spoke publicly about how she came to realise the truth.
“I noticed Kira had deleted every picture and video of Bonnie-Leigh from our chats. 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,’” McRobert said in a video statement.
She described how she had believed every part of Kira Cousins’ story: the pregnancy updates, the claims of a heart defect, and even the supposed birth. “Everybody believed her. She had a gender reveal, she posted scan photos and even said the baby had a hole in its heart. Then she texted me saying the baby was born. We were all so happy.” McRobert added that she had even gone on outings with Cousins and the doll, completely unaware it was fake. “I feel worse because I’m one of the few people to meet this ‘baby’. I feel totally used and drained. Everyone got conned by her.”
Another acquaintance, who had known Kira Cousins for a decade, said the revelation came as little surprise. “I have known her for 10 years and she has lied about all sorts. She came into my house twice before this doll appeared, and me and my daughter noticed straight away that her bump wasn’t real. It was all lumpy. She was wearing very thin pyjamas, and you could see the straps on her back holding it on.”
The friend added that when Kira Cousins posted photos of her “baby,” it was immediately apparent to her that it was a doll. “But I would have been slaughtered if I had spoken out about all this and said I didn’t think any of it was real. People would have thought I was crazy.”
Public reaction to the case has been a mix of shock, ridicule, and concern. While many condemned the elaborate deceit and emotional damage caused to her friends and family, others expressed empathy for Kira Cousins, pointing to possible underlying mental health issues. The young woman herself acknowledged she had not been in a “good headspace,” and reports indicate that she has since sought help to understand her behaviour.
Experts who have commented on similar cases note that such hoaxes often stem from psychological distress, loneliness, or a desperate need for attention and validation. In some instances, individuals who fake pregnancies suffer from pseudocyesis, a rare psychological condition in which the body exhibits physical symptoms of pregnancy despite the absence of a fetus. While Kira Cousins has not claimed to suffer from this condition, her prolonged deception suggests deep emotional turmoil and an inability to stop once the falsehood gained momentum.
According to Yahoo News, Kira Cousins initially declined to comment when contacted by The Record, but later issued her public apology and confirmed that she planned to address her followers further through an Instagram live session. It remains unclear whether she has faced any formal consequences beyond public scrutiny, as her actions, while deeply unethical, do not constitute a clear criminal offence under Scottish law.
The incident has reignited debate about the influence of social media on identity and self-perception. Cousins’ story illustrates how online validation can intensify unhealthy behaviours, encouraging individuals to sustain elaborate lies for the sake of likes, comments, and perceived belonging. In a digital age where life milestones are measured in posts and shares, her deception stands as a stark reminder of the dark side of performative living.
The psychological damage to those she deceived is equally profound. Friends who celebrated her pregnancy now speak of shattered trust and emotional exhaustion. Many expressed that they would struggle to believe her again, no matter what she claimed in the future. The public exposure of the hoax has also subjected Kira Cousins to widespread ridicule online, with some mocking her story and others urging compassion, arguing that she needs therapy rather than condemnation.
As for the doll at the centre of the scandal, it reportedly remains in Cousins’ possession—a haunting symbol of the elaborate fiction she created and the emotional chaos left in its wake. The story has become one of the most discussed online oddities of the year, blending tragedy, deceit, and the unsettling realism of artificial life into a single narrative that has captivated social media users worldwide.
Though Kira Cousins has apologised and acknowledged the magnitude of her wrongdoing, her name has become synonymous with one of the strangest deceptions to emerge from Britain in recent memory. Her case exposes not only the lengths to which individuals might go to maintain an illusion but also the potent—and often perilous—power of social media to blur the line between reality and performance.