On sexdolls and the (married) couples that buy them | ÆmberaDolls in Konstanz

Published: 12 October 2025, Updated: 20 October 2025

Key Facts: 

• 52% of adults in DACH use sex toys during sex with a partner. 
• 45% of adults in DACH use sex toys during masturbation
• Sex dolls are great tools to bring novelty to very established partnerships
• 45% of sex therapists and physicians would recommend using sex dolls with artificial intelligence

Mara* (41) and Michael* (47) had reached an all too familiar point in their relationship: they had been in a monogamous relationship for 15 years and knew each other inside out. Their sex life had become boring and sex less frequent. When they did have sex, they focused a lot on established routines and positions. The result was little variety, with both partners desiring novelty and new experiences.

Mara had initiated the conversation around spicing things up in the bedroom and brought up the idea of bringing in a third person or visiting a swinger club. The idea felt exciting, but also risky both for hygienic and emotional reasons. She reached out to us to see if we could help. We arranged a private consultation in our showroom in Konstanz. What followed was a multi-faceted conversation around sexual preferences, what worked and what didn’t, both partners unrealised desires and fantasies, but also emotions and deep-seated beliefs. A lifelike sexdoll was for them both of them a way to open a new chapter in their love life, without gimmicky toys or all the risks involved with a third person.

What they voiced echoes many discussions online and in our showroom: couples want exploration without the risk of jealousy. Lifelike dolls are a tool to deepen and / or renew intimacy. This echoes many discussions in the public space. In a significant number of couples, one or both partners are not strictly heterosexual. The concept of a “safe threesome” is often elusive, but all the more intriguing. Couple enact threesomes with a lifelike male or female sexdoll without the emotional and hygienic risks or the need for condoms. 

Couples come to us in various stages of the discussion. Fundamentally, the conversation has three phases: consent, the role the doll must play, and maintenance and care. These phases are can be sequential, but don’t have to be. Sometimes the discussion is more to explore what is currently possible and at other times it is more about realising a specific vision of who or what they would like to join them. Every so often consent is also a topic, especially when one partner is more open to the idea of a lifelike sex doll than the other. The golden rule of sex dolls in relationships is always: process before product, agreements matter more than the item. 

Research points to a rising uptake of lifelike sexdolls in couples. A study of 1723 heterosexual adults in Germany showed that more than half of Germans already use sex toys with a partner, while 45% use sex toys alone. In a separate study, 45% of sex therapists and physicians would recommend using a sex doll. Men and women alike say sex toys improve their sex life. While women tend to focus more on being in control when using toys and dolls, men use toys and dolls more to live out and amplify their fantasies. Interestingly, men also report a reduction in performance pressure, making sexual encounters in partnerships easier. The greatest predictor of a great experience however, was not the intensity of the climax. Rather it was the intimacy created by talking about the experience before, during and after it happened. 

About three months after their initial consultation, Mara and Michael arranged a video call with us. They not only significantly increased their number of times they have sex, but they also felt more at ease now that they could live out their long-held, but unrealised fantasies. 

Note: A companion doll is a highly personal and often emotional product. Many couples benefit from in-person consultation with experienced retailers and from customisation (body type, weight, materials, faces/wigs, storage) to ensure personal fit.

*names changed to protect their identities