A Scottish woman has admitted to tricking her boyfriend and family into believing she was pregnant using a silicone doll and fake bump.
Kira Cousins, 23, claimed she had given birth to a daughter, called "Bonnie-Leigh", but told the "baby's father" Jamie Gardiner that she had died.
Ms Cousins faced fierce backlash when the hoax was revealed and has since been spoken to by Police Scotland over concerns for her welfare.
The 23-year-old posted images from fabricated baby scans and even hosted a gender reveal party in Caldercruix, Lanarkshire.
The 23-year-old posted images from fabricated baby scans and even hosted a gender reveal party
|Suspicions over the "baby" grew after nobody had heard her cry and Ms Cousins refused to let anyone go near her.
In a now-deleted Instagram story obtained by the Daily Record, the 23-year-old wrote: “I’m so sorry.
“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.
Suspicions over the 'baby' grew after nobody had heard her cry and Ms Cousins refused to let anyone go near her
|“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.
"While I'm not condoning any behaviour led by myself I'd like to clear some things up for the people who were involved.
"Maybe in time I will come out and address the sadness once the right help etc. has been sought.'
"No one should be hating towards either families, especially Jamie's."
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Prior to posting the apology on social media, Ms Cousins told the "father" that their daughter had died.
It has been said that the hoax was uncovered when her mother discovered the silicone doll in her bedroom last week.
According to friends of the 23-year-old, she forked out a "fortune" for the silicone doll.
It was made by the Reborn Dolls company, which creates the realistic replicas often used for therapy for those struggling with infant loss, dementia and infertility.
The price of a doll from the brand can reach up to £2,000.
Prior to posting the apology on social media, Ms Cousins told the 'father' that their daughter had died
|A source who knows Ms Cousin's family told the Daily Mail: "Her mum bought a pram for her, £1,000, her gran bought car seats and everything, one of her cousins from Wales supposedly sent her £500. She's getting all this money.
"I don't know where she is now, but apparently some people say she's still floating about other people say she's left the country."
It is not thought that any complaint against the 23-year-old has been made to the police.
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