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The Times of India

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TOI World Desk

English woman claimed she gave birth to rabbits and Britain's most respected doctors believed every word: The story of history's greatest medical hoax

Britain George I John Howard Surrey

In the autumn of 1726, an extraordinary claim gripped Britain and left even some of the country's most respected physicians baffled. A poor woman from Surrey named Mary Toft insisted she had given birth not to a baby, but to rabbits. The bizarre story quickly spread beyond her village, attracting surgeons, scientists and even the attention of George I. For weeks, several prominent doctors treated the case as genuine before a careful investigation uncovered one of history's most astonishing medical frauds, exposing the dangers of superstition, flawed science and professional pride.

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