A Scottish woman has admitted to running a jaw-dropping scam, tricking her boyfriend and family into believing she was pregnant, gave birth, and then claimed their baby daughter had died. She pulled off the deception using a lifelike silicone doll and a fake baby bump.

£2,000 Silicone Doll and Fake Scans Fuel Months-long Lie

23-year-old Kira Cousins convinced everyone she had given birth to a daughter named “Bonnie-Leigh”. The secret? An ultra-realistic Reborn Doll costing up to £2,000, with moveable limbs and changeable facial features.

Cousins went all out, fabricating baby scans and even throwing a gender reveal party in Caldercruix, Lanarkshire. Her family and friends fell for it big time, handing over thousands in gifts – including a £1,000 pram from her mum, car seats from her grandmother, and £500 from a cousin in Wales.

Suspicion Mounts As “Baby” Never Cries

Questions started piling up when Bonnie-Leigh was never heard crying, and Cousins kept everyone at arm’s length from the baby. Last week, the notoriously convincing hoax unravelled when her mum found the silicone doll hidden in Cousins’ bedroom.

“The doll could move, and you could change arms, legs, and facial features,” Cousins later explained, claiming this fooled everyone. “You could feed the doll, making it ‘pee’ or ‘poo’,” she added. The sophisticated doll made the lie look real – until it didn’t.

Emotional Devastation: Boyfriend Told Baby Had Died

Taking the cruelty up a notch, Cousins told her boyfriend Jamie Gardiner their daughter had died. This heartless move shredded his trust and added unimaginable pain to the hoax.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t pregnant. There was no baby. I made it up and kept it going way too far,” Cousins admitted in an Instagram apology now deleted.

She begged people not to hate the families involved, especially Jamie’s, and hinted at mental health struggles driving her actions: “Maybe in time I will come out and address the sadness once the right help etc. has been sought.”

Police Involved Over Welfare Concerns

Police Scotland confirmed they spoke to Cousins following the hoax’s exposure, focusing on her welfare rather than criminal charges at this stage. No formal complaint has yet been made, though family members spent thousands on gifts believing in the pregnancy.

Family Left Betrayed After Months of Deception

The fallout has devastated Cousins’s loved ones. Her family not only lost money but faces the emotional toll of having their trust so deeply betrayed. Her whereabouts remain unknown amid fierce public backlash, with rumours she may have left Scotland altogether.

Psychological Puzzle Behind the Hoax

The elaborate scam raises serious questions about Cousins’s mental health. Experts say faking pregnancy can point to conditions like factitious disorder or phantom pregnancy. The cruel claim that the baby had died hints at deeper trauma or psychological distress.

For Jamie Gardiner and Cousins’s family, the emotional scars from this outrageous fib will run deep.