Erotic Ectoplasmic Birth: Vaginas and Scientific Probing in the Age of Spiritualism

During September 1726, in rural England, Mary Toft gave birth multiple times to animal parts and fully grown animals. These included cat legs, a rabbit head, around a dozen dead rabbits, and more. Due to a theory that emotions could cause birth defects, Mary convinced many doctors that these “births” were real and became a local celebrity. Eventually mounting evidence and the threat of court-appointed experimental pelvic surgery led to Mary’s confession that it was indeed a hoax. Essentially, Mary put these animals (and parts) into her vagina when doctors were not looking, and then faked natural birth. The doctors who fell for this hoax were mocked for their gullibility and one of the key medical professionals attached to the case, Nathaniel St. André, lost his patients and died in poverty.

This would not be the last time a woman put items into her vagina to trick rationalists and people of science. At the height of Spiritualism (late 1800s and early 1900s), mediums performed seances with knocks, moving tables, and a mysterious white substance called ectoplasm, which sometimes entered the world through their vagina.

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