Please answer the following question: Facts: - alt: a woman in poor clothing and a bonnet , sitting on engraving a chair , holding a rabbit in her lap . based her right elbow is supported by a table as she on looks to the left , a neutral expression on her a face . painting of a young - known for: medical hoax - caption: mary painting by john laguerre in 1726 toft , in an engraving based on a - birth name: mary denyer - death date: 1763 -lrb- aged 62 -rrb- - birth date: c. & nbsp ; 1701 - name: mary toft - nationality: english/british - image: mary toft 1726.jpg Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of mary toft .
Answer:
mary toft -lrb- nee denyer ; c. 1701 -- 1763 -rrb- , also spelled tofts , 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 .in 1726 toft became pregnant , but following her reported fascination with the sighting of a rabbit , she miscarried .her claim to have given birth to various animal parts prompted the arrival of john howard , a local surgeon , who investigated the matter .he delivered several pieces of animal flesh and duly notified other prominent physicians , which brought the case to the attention of nathaniel st. andre , surgeon to the royal household of king george i. st. andre concluded that toft 's case was genuine but the king also sent surgeon cyriacus ahlers , who remained sceptical .by then quite famous , toft was brought to london and studied at length , where under intense scrutiny and producing no more rabbits she confessed to the hoax , and was subsequently imprisoned as a fraud .the resultant public mockery created panic within the medical profession and ruined the careers of several prominent surgeons .the affair was satirised on many occasions , not least by the pictorial satirist and social critic william hogarth , who was notably critical of the medical profession 's gullibility .toft was eventually released without charge and returned home .