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There does not appear to be a deep metaphorical meaning for using a fake baby. According to the filmmakers, they originally had two real life babies, but the first one was sick with a fever and the parents of the second never showed up on set with their baby. Rather than re-arrange their shooting schedule (often a costly decision to a production), Eastwood asked the prop department to fix the problem. Given Eastwood’s reputation of shooting fast, efficiently and on-time (a virtue he picked up from directors he worked with in the past), it’s not a surprise that Eastwood would prefer to keep a production moving rather than delay it over a detail that’s never the focal point of any particular shot.

The prop is typically obscured. It wasn’t until the film’s wide release that the use of the prop got any attention when it was widely reported in the mainstream press.