Has anyone asked easy child 1 how he feels about this? Not only is this a bit bizarre, it is not sending a very pleasant message to easy child 1. It's like saying, "We can't have you as our child, you're too old. So we're replacing you."
It's also going to be not very fair to the baby. who is going to have to grow up in someone else's shadow, with high expectations to look and be a certain way.
I have a friend (acquaintance, contact, someone who used to ring me up almost every night and talk for hours) who is also a WJ. She is obsessed with a certain TV show (now axed because it ran its allotted life span). The lead character in this program was a particularly charismatic male with a very unusual name. My friend is a writer who has been working on her magnum opus for a very long time, the main character in her novel has the same name as the TV show character. it is set in Australia but is NOT an Aussie name, by any stretch of the imagination. She is obsessed with the actor as well as the character. Her writing, when she writes articles and essays, is very good. her novel is not, because the necessary elements are missing because of thisobsession. She cannot allow her character to display any conflict or deep emotion, which takes the teeth out of good narrative. Normally she would be a good enough writer to realise this, but is totally blinded because of her obsession.
Creepy.
Every so often we have workshop sessions where we read out the more recent bits of our writing, and what she reads out - it's embarrassing. Especially when we know what she is capable of. It's like reading private fantasies, but without any salacious bits. "This is me and him tucking our kids into bed" type of fantasies.
With my friend, I have no concerns for anyone's safety, but as far as her ability to hold down a normal relationship - forget it.
As for your WJ and her family - same story. If easy child 1 has any choice in the matter, it should never be an issue for him or the baby, if he can successfully avoid ever meeting them. And at least he has his own nickname - or are they going to use that too?
Wouldn't put it past them, if this is genuine, sicko obsession.
Marg