Mary Toft-Denyer was an English woman from Godalming, Surrey, who in 1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she tricked doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. The matter came to the attention of surgeon Nathaniel St. André who concluded that Toft was telling the truth.
Another surgeon, Cyriacus Ahlers, remained sceptical. Toft was brought to London and was studied at length. Under intense scrutiny, and producing no more rabbits, she eventually confessed to the hoax and was subsequently imprisoned as a fraud.
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