In September 1726, an Englishwoman named Mary Toft gave birth to something that looked like cat intestines. And when local obstetrician John Howard arrived at her home, he helped Toft deliver several cat legs and nine dead baby rabbits. Baffled, Howard wrote to medical experts in London. Soon, word of the miraculous births made their way to King George I himself. Curious, the king sent Nathaniel St. Andrew, his personal surgeon-anatomist, to investigate. And on the day he showed up, Mary Toft gave birth to Rabbit #15.
Shockingly, both St. Andre and John Howard really thought Toft was delivering rabbits. They believed she’d been startled by a rabbit while pregnant, and that’s why she was giving birth to baby bunnies. This insane theory was called “maternal impression,” (or, as we call it today, “wrong”), but not everyone bought into it. It was determined the rabbits’ lungs couldn’t have developed inside Toft’s womb. Plus, one physician found droppings inside a dead bunny that contained hay and straw. Crazier still, after Toft delivered half a rabbit, someone noticed the animal had been cut in two with a knife
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Still, St. Andre was convinced Toft was a baby-bunny-mama, and he brought her to London for closer examination. Upon her arrival, Toft became the talk of the town. People flocked to see the legendary mother, and her story was covered in major newspapers. But once she was in London, Toft … stopped giving birth. As if that weren’t suspicious enough, a servant was caught sneaking a rabbit into her room. After one doctor threatened to perform surgery on her, Toft confessed it was all a hoax. Hoping to earn money in freak shows (and scam a few prominent doctors on the side), Toft had been shoving the rabbits inside her vagina and then pushing them out. Please do not even think of trying this at home.
