Case file · High strangeness
Mary Toft, the woman who 'gave birth to rabbits'
In 1726 Mary Toft of Godalming, Surrey, convinced several doctors, including a royal surgeon, that she was giving birth to rabbits and parts of animals.
1726 CE · 51.19, -0.61 · status: hoax
The account
The case became a national sensation and reached the court of George I. Under questioning in London, Toft confessed that the animal parts had been inserted. Satirists including Hogarth mocked the doctors who had believed her.
The sceptical view
A confessed fraud. It is a classic case of experts misled by expectation and by the theory of 'maternal impression'.