A controversial new children's doll with a detachable pregnancy stomach cap has divided shoppers.
Amazon's Dinglong Real Pregnant Doll Suit Mum Doll and Dress has been widely shared on social media since its launch, with some worried it could lead to more pregnancies at a young age.
The £3.89 toy's cap accessory contains a tiny baby, while the doll itself comes in a variety of different appearances – and it has split opinion since a photo was shared on a Facebook shopping group.
There is some suggestion that the doll has normalised pregnancy too much for young girls and made it into a fashion statement, reports the Manchester Evening News.
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"Think this is so wrong," said one shopper. "Why do little girls need to know about reproduction, let kids be kids!
"I can understand maybe getting this for your child if you were pregnant and trying to explain to your child, but other than that, no just nooo!"
Another slammed the new product as "too far".
A third critic wrote: "No wonder girls are getting pregnant from a very young age, they are making this a fashion statement. Let kids grow up naturally like we all did, they are learning from a young age in schools anyway which is not right so why glamourise it??"
"This doll takes the innocent out of little girls," vented a fourth.
However, others seemed to really take to the idea, with many excited about purchasing the dolls for their little ones.
One shopper admitted: "I initially looked and said omg but then bought it because my little girl will be over the moon with this."
"Need this," said somebody else.
Independent health think tank the Nuffield Trust said, despite fears of some mums online in relation to the new doll, between 1990 and 2017, the under-18 conception rate decreased by 62 per cent from 47.7 per 1,000 to 17.9.
The rate of decline appeared to accelerate in 2007, with the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy for England having been launched in 1999 aiming to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010.
The national target has not been met, however, the campaign has seen huge success in many local areas due in part to investment in contraceptive services.
Mirror Online has contacted Amazon for comment.
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