Mary Toft Controversy
Can a woman give birth to rabbits?
4.7 (30)
40 mins
Explore how Mary Toft convinced prominent eighteenth-century doctors that she was miraculously giving birth to rabbits. Discover how suspicious royal investigators uncovered hay inside the animals and exposed the crude hoax. Learn about the national scandal and widespread public mockery that ruined the reputations of several elite physicians.
Ep 1:
The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits
In 1726 Surrey, a poor laborer named Mary Toft begins delivering rabbits instead of babies, igniting a medical mystery that pulls in surgeons, pamphleteers, and the English crown.
Ep 2:
A King's Physicians and a Growing Hoax
As news of Mary's bizarre deliveries spreads to London, King George dispatches royal physicians to investigate—only to find them bitterly divided over whether her miracle is real or an elaborate deception.
Ep 3:
The Confession That Shocked England
Brought to London and placed under constant watch, Mary Toft's story begins to crack under scrutiny, a smuggled rabbit, and threats of a brutal surgical test, forcing a shattering confession.
Ep 4:
Poverty, Protest, and the Afterlife of a Scandal
With careers ruined and a woman imprisoned, the Mary Toft affair becomes legend—explored through satire, poetry, and lingering questions about power, poverty, and who truly controlled the hoax.
Discussions (5)
Frank
Level 10 · 2 hours agoJoshua buying rabbits for weeks while Mary claimed she was too poor to catch one... the receipts were RIGHT THERE
Addison
Level 6 · 2 hours agothe part about doctors ignoring the hay in the rabbit's stomach because they wanted to believe hit hard. ego really does override evidence every single time
Mary
Level 8 · 2 hours agoRabbits were actually capital crimes then
