Akuaba Ashanti or Fante fertility doll 27,5 cms Ancient Akuaba Aschanti. Beautiful and old patina of use Akuaba fertility dolls are worn by pregnant women, who should not lay their eyes on a deformed being or object, for fear that their children may look like them. Conversely, by looking at these expressions of idealized beauty, they are supposed to promote the beauty of their offspring. In fact, the rite of Akuaba dolls is more complex. The doll having to be carried certain days, sometimes deposited on the family altar, the future mother also having to absorb potions and to bathe or wash with infusions. Once the child is born, what happens to the dolls is very variable. Some are given as a sign of recognition to the healer who asked for them to be made. He added them to his altar, a large number being the sign of his power. Other times, they are given to children as a toy.