Have you seen the "realistic" preemie doll by Ashton-Drake????

I almost hate to even get this thread going again... but I just went to the website for this doll and realized, baby Grace is a quintuplet. So apparently the one doll wasn't enough, they are going to make her a quintuplet so they can sell 4 more potentially equally inaccurate representations of a "Early Arrival" Pitiful!

You are kidding me? That is an outrage and they need to be stopped, how many people will be really hurt by this??? It isn't enough that she looks NOTHING like a preemie but to make her a quint? What the heck are they thinking...isn't there anything we can do??? I've heard of free trade but come on

Wow..that doll is almost funny if it wasn't so untrue. I would love to see a preemie that looked like that. My 28weeker looked like a rubber chicken instead of a plump pink baby like that. And they could not put the hospital bracelet on his delicate skin like the doll has.
It is a sorry portrayal of a preemie!!
Melissa Zavorski

Ok, I guess I missed something.....where did it say it's a quintuplet now?? (By the way, I like that they changed it to "Early Arrival", that makes a difference....NOT)

Quintuplet link

You can join the subscription plan to get all 5. Quoting from the website--"May God Bless You, Little Grace," the premiere issue, will be followed by "A Lovely Gift Is Lauren," "So Tired Is Little Taylor," "Little Natalie Is a Natural," and "Don't Cry, Little Kaitlyn"

Sheesh!

SO TRUE. . . if they want a "realistic" preemie doll, they need to add some monitor stickies, some IV tubes and bags and also an oxygen cannula or a CPAP and then MAYBE it will look like my REAL preemies did when they were born. All proceeds from teh sale of this doll should go to March of Dimes or yes like you said market it as a full term because very few preemies look like she does

I feel like I have exhausted my soap box with this company. I will never buy a product from them, they capitalize on this sort of thing. I also notice they are selling an official PJP II cross. Wonder what the Catholic church and vatican think about that? PHHHbbbbbtt! This company is a crock... driven by capitalism with no thought to what harm they creating by ignorantly portraying these dolls (Early Arrival?!?! Hope that means she was born in the wee hours of the morning. Hmmph! Doubt it!).

For awhile they were promising to donate proceeds from Grace to the March of Dimes. Has anything actually become of that? I will write again, if necessary, but it seems to me they are careless and thoughtless.

I feel bad for the artist because she didn't create them as "Early Arrivals" and has no say but has received lots of backlash from Americans.

Whatever... I feel like I don't have enough in me to muster up another battle against this pathetic company. I'll let karma take care of them.

It's so sad that companies are using America's misfortune and tragedy to miseducate & make a buck.

My preemie looked nothing like that, either did my preemie twin neices who are just now a year old. They were smaller than my daughter's baby dolls, so sad!! Their diapers didn't fit her baby dolls...

I think we should take this with us (I'm talking to all of you, and our fearless ambassador, Michelle) when when we go to PAD in DC in November!! Companies that gain from our misfortunes!!! Shame on them!!

I am astounded that companies would do this (I guess that's the part of me that thinks people are just ignorant to this problem ) and not realizing they are doing us harm!!

What's MOD have to say about this? How do I get the companies address? I want to write a letter also, this is not right!!

Thanks for sharing this information with us!!
Sharlene

Scroll up through the messages... all the contact information is there. *sigh*

So what their basically saying in their return letter is that we are not loving supportive parents because our babies were not healthy due to being born early? That sounds...dare I say....no I dare not!!

How dare they say PoP's are anything but loving, doting, supportive, well rounded families?

I have to get back to work before I blow a gasket!! I am PHHHT!!!

How could this company do this!! Did they not get enough letters the first time around?? Do they want bad press about how insenceitive there company is??
Did any one ever send them the pic someone made earlier in this thread of what that baby should look more like??

MAYBE WE SHOULD SEND THEM PICS OF WHAT ALL OUR PREMIEES LOOKED LIKE WHEN THE WHERE BORN??

I sent a picture to the president of the company along with my letter of outrage, I don't really think it made much of a difference. I tried, as did everyone else here at SHARE, to get them to understand how we felt....but money is much more important than the feelings of us mere parents....

I SENT THE COMPANY A NASTY MESSAGE. THEY E-MAILED ME BACK WITH A MESSAGE ABOUT NOTHING BAD INTENDED. YA YA YA. SO I SAID IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT A REAL PREEMIE LOOKS LIKE VIEW ENCLOSED PICTURE. I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM THEM SINCE.

ARRRGGGHHHH!!!! Have we not made our point clear enough??? They said before that they couldn't stop production because so many people had already ordered the doll...now they decide to make more of them??? I wonder of ANY of them are going to look as ill as our little ones did?!?!?!?! Well, guess I'll write yet another letter. I know it won't make a difference in the long run, but it'll make me feel better. Does anyone know how we can find out if the company has actually followed through with the MOD donations??

This is very disappointing. Let me find out from the Director of our Prematurity Campaign what ultimately happened with Ashton Drake. We'll be back to you.

Thanks - Ellen

Can we contact the BBB???? I mean after all this is false ad!! They have to be stopped.... i not sure that we have any moms of quints on here but i know that we have quads and i sure that they didn't look like that at birth... i am sure that even the triplets and twins didn't look like that!!

At the end of April I posted a message regarding the preemie dolls that are available on some online sites. I didn't know about the Ashton-Drake doll until Susan mentioned it in her response to my post. I also didn't know that there had been a very lively discussion a few months ago regarding the Ashton-Drake doll! I can't add anything more to what Darcy said in her very first post about these dolls and I am anxious to hear from Ellen to learn if there was a MOD response. In the meantime - thanks to Darcy and everyone else who was proactive and sent the Ashton-Drake company a letter. Let's hope they remove this doll from their product line.

Lori

Okay All-

Of course you know I cannot bite my tounge on this! I feel ill after reading about the quint....who was once "just" premature!
In fact, I am so angry about it...as they say in the south...I could spit nails!

My babies were quadruplets! My babies were born at 25 weeks! My babies were all barely over a pound...and my heavy one Donovan, was 1 pound 8 ounces. (Smallest, Callie, 1 pound 2 ounces). They were in the hospital for 3 and 1/2 months. YES! And I have pictures that do not paint such a rosey picture as the little girl they are calling a quint.

I know I am speaking to people who already know this...I just wish I could really speak rationally and make some kind of emotional connection with the folks who DO NOT realize what they have done...how much harder they are making things...if only they KNEW what it means when they DO things like this!

It is not just this ... but I know many people with higher order multiples that would just cry if they saw the quint who is such a beautiful healthy little sweetheart in that picture! It just breaks my heart to know all that my family have gone through...all that the majority of high order multiples and their families have gone through...all that YOU ALL on this site have gone through...once again I feel list Ashton Drake believes our expereinces to be trite and our babies to be nonpersons...because golly...don't you know every quint will come out looking like that darn collectors doll! UGH!

SIGH*....I should sign off now...Before I stamp my feet and stick out my tounge:

Melissa Middleton

Melissa,

I say stomp your feet and stick out that tongue!!!!!!!! Maybe that will get their attention, and if my Grace is any example, it will make you feel better! I'll be right there with you.....maybel I'll throw myself down on the floor and kick my feet and pound my fists too!! Whew, I feel better just saying that!

When will these people get a clue? It makes me so ANGRY!!!!!!!!!!!! and frustrated.

Donna

Hi, everyone: This is Pam with the March of Dimes. Like many Share community members, the March of Dimes is distressed when we see dolls that inaccurately represent quintuplets or a premature baby.

In response to a letter from the March of Dimes expressing very serious concerns about the "Little Grace" Early Arrival doll, Ashton Drake contacted us. They did not agree to change the way their dolls are presented and marketed. They wanted to make a donation in support of our prematurity campaign. The donation is in process.

The March of Dimes is exploring other opportunities for calling attention to the representation of premature and multiple births illustrated by the Ashton-Drake dolls.

For those of you who have concerns about the Ashton-Drake preemie doll or the quintuplet dolls, we encourage you to communicate directly with the company, if you have not already done so.

Best wishes to all of you, Pam

Hi Everyone,

Thought I would post the letter I am sending to Ashton Drake...if you have another address...please pass it on....

Ashton Drake
Attn. Questions and Information
854 Golf Lane
Bensenville, IL 60105.

Dear Ashton Drake,

I am writing in response to your quintuplet, who once was simply preemie baby Grace. When she was advertised as a preemie, I was upset…now that she is being advertised as a quintuplet…I am incensed! Have you any idea what kind of damage you are creating by spreading the idea that that beautiful doll looks anything at all like MOST high order multiples!

My babies were dubbed the Middleton Quads A, B, C, and D in the NICU. I carried them to 25 weeks…and was in pre-term labor with them at 16 weeks. By emergency c-section, my babies were born, much too early, into this world.

Weights were as follows:

Alexander 1 pound 4 ounces
Benjamin 1 pound 4 ounces
Callie 1 pound 2 ounces
Donovan 1 pound 8 ounces

Alexander died in my arms at 3 weeks old from a major blood clot in his heart. It was caused by an infection in his central line (the line in his belly button). Any infection is deadly to a premature baby.

We had Alex cremated and a brief memorial service for him. Can you imagine going to a funeral home, choosing an urn, and discussing with the funeral director what you would like included in your child’s memorial service? No, I imagine you probably do not…because if you could imagine such a thing, I think you would have already begun reconsidering your current marketing course.

Donovan had e-coli in the NICU. How many full term babies do you know who have had e-coli?

Benjamin is blind in one eye and severely visually impaired in his other eye. How many babies do you know that wear glasses…have an occularist, retinal specialists, pediatric ophthalmologist, is tested at a retinal foundation once a year, and has weekly visits with a vision teacher and orientation and mobility teacher? How many babies do you know who are learning pre-braille?

Benjamin and Callie have GI tube and Nissans because of their diagnosis of severe projectile reflux (GERD) and failure to thrive due to severe prematurity. Slowly we are weaning them off of their tubes. It is a constant battle to create the desire to eat in Callie.

All of our children were seen for a year (and Benjamin is still enrolled) by Early Childhood Intervention. Their physical therapist is at Easter Seals…their occupational and speech therapist is at Opportunities. My kids have been enrolled in these programs since they were 6 months old.

Weight is a constant issue. Ben and Callie have almost caught up, due to their tubes…but Donovan is still less than 21 pounds…and again…they are 2 years old. Issues with weight are not uncommon in premature infants.

What is even more heartbreaking than the ignorance you are perpetuating by marketing your preemie and high order multiple dolls…is that you are making our situations sound uncommon and trite! This could not be further from the truth. High order multiples will MOST of the time be born early. Rarely, they are carried almost to full term….usually, they are born earlier than any of us would like…and many times – they do have on going problems.

You have been encouraged by letters and phone calls to stop marketing your “preemie” dolls…and now you are marketing a high order multiple doll! When will this insanity stop!? You have NO idea what you are talking about…

High order multiples are popular images in the media right now…and for a variety of reasons. I also realize that 6 precious babies, born at once, are now school age children…and televsion celebrities. I am so glad that they survived and are okay!

Let me assure you that 6 relatively healthy babies being born at one time…is NOT a common occurrence. It is fascinating…and I am sure it sales…but it is NOT an accurate image of what it usually means to have a litter of babies at one time! Not in the least! You simply do not get it!

My question to you is…what will make you finally “get” it? Do you think smacking down some donation change will really stop the damage you are doing by using these “preemie” and high order multiple dolls in the first place? You really could not be any more offensive to us parents of REAL premature babies and high order multiples?

I encourage you to really look at what you are trying to accomplish by promoting these dolls! That would be a good step in the right direction.

Sincerely,

Melissa R. Middleton
Mom of 25 wkr quads. Alex *deceased*, Benjamin, Callie, and Donovan
Currently 23 months old

Melissa,

You have me crying sitting at my desk. That is a very powerful letter. Thank you for writing that. Reading what you wrote about Alex got me thinking about that day, picking out his casket and making funeral arrangements, for George Daniel, what a horrible day that was. If that doesn't make them stop & think, I am not sure if it is possible!!

Hopefully your letter will open up their eyes!!
Thanks for your inspirational letter!! And for making me cry once again - I needed it!!

Sharlene

Thank you, Melissa for putting into words the repulsion I feel toward this company. I am going to draft another letter to them, but right now I am working on writing my senator about the Preemie Act. Unfortunately, I have more hope for that right now than I do for this company.

BTW, Melissa, The McCaughey septuplets (who I think you were referring to in your letter... though there are 7 of them) live about 10 min from me (Carlisle, IA). And you're right, they are local celebrities though they have a HOST of medical problems. Not something I would fashion a doll after.

I want to know when they are going to release the lifelike accessories: the glasses, hearing adds, walkers, monitors, oxygen cannulas. *gag* This company makes me sick.

Melissa,

Your letter brought me to tears. I cannot believe how insensitive, uncaring, and ignorant the people at this company are. My prayer is that they somehow see the light of what they are doing, and stop. At one point in my life, I actually thought about buying some of their products. My family now has a ban against anything they make. HORRIBLE!!

Melissa,

Your letter says so much more than I could even think of.I am just so sickened and appalled by this doll,and you are right,no donation that they give will lrssen the hurt that they are causing by misrepresenting all these precious preemies.

I don't know if I can write them another letter,they never responded to my first one,I guess that they got tired from being bombarded with all the other ones.But I will try my best.

Many hugs to you and for all that you went through with all you precious babies.I hope that your letter will give that doll company something to think about.Take care.

I also will never buy anything from them either,and tell all my family and friends.I am also going to post this on my Preemie board as well,so these other moms can write to the company again.

Deborah&Eleanor~Rose.

This is Pam with the March of Dimes. A very, very powerful letter. Thank you for writing it.

was just looking at a mag(Good Housekeeping March 05) and there is an add for Grace and it says in the add in small print under her leg "addind to her REALISM as a preemie 'grace' is approximately 15 1/2 inches long"

I freeked when i saw this My son was about that length and did not look like that!! These people HAVE to be stopped... They have no grasp on realism of a preemie!!!

Does anyone remember the preemie doll that was made by cabbage patch. I remember playing with this doll daily, it was my favorite one. I remeber thinking how cute a little little baby. I never imagined that one day I would have my real own preemie. Somehow my 30 weeker wasn't as cute as the doll I called Hope. Yes I named it Hope (quite ironic) It angers me now that this is the vision of a premature baby that people are geting from these dolls. I guess my point is this, we can write to these people untll we are blue in the face. Education is the way we an get revenge.Lets let the world know what premature babies really look like!!!
Mac's Mom

but... *cringe* it also shows the evolution the March of Dimes has made....

MOD paired up with the Cabbage Patch company (Mattel, I believe?) to do fundraising and on several of the CP Kids' boxes there is the MOD endorsement and logo. *snicker*

We've come a long way, baby!

Ashton Drake may not change their opinion....but they are betting that we will become tired and bored with their antics...that we will begin to feel hopeless and go away...Ashton Drake thinks of us as pesky flies at their job site...but to us...prematurity is not just a job...it is a huge part of our lives...and because of this...we won't go away...We cannot allow ourselves to get apathetic about the propoganda and myths this company uses to sell their products...they are just ebbing away at our energy reserves while benefiting from a misinformed public's appetite for little cuddly babies and high order multiples...

I do agree...hitting senators with letters will probably be more fruitful...but being an annoyance to Ashton Drake has its own benefits.

Take care all...you know we can do so much if we stick together and focus on this just cause...and you also know how amazing I know each of you are...whether you choose to advocate or not...you still offer and give so much...every day!

Melissa Middleton (mom of 25 wk'r quads. Alex *Deceased*, Benjamin, Callie, and Donovan: 23 months old)