Why did people used to say "the rabbit died" when someone was pregnant?

Question

I asked this in this section because I thought it might be connected to an "old wives tale".

Ok, how did they use a rabbit for a pregnancy test? Were they peeing on the bunnies?

Answer 1

'The rabbit test was an early pregnancy test developed in 1927. It consisted of injecting the tested woman's urine into a female rabbit, then examining the rabbit's ovaries a few days later, which would change in response to a hormone only secreted by pregnant women. The hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), is produced during pregnancy and indicates the presence of a fertilized egg; it can be found in a pregnant woman's urine and blood. The rabbit test became a widely used bioassay (animal-based test) to test for pregnancy. The term "rabbit test" was first recorded in 1949 but became a common phrase in the English language.

Modern pregnancy tests still operate on the basis of testing for the presence of the hormone hCG. Due to medical advances, use of a rabbit is no longer required.

It is a common misconception that the injected rabbit would die only if the woman was pregnant. This led to the phrase "the rabbit died" being used as a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test. In fact, all rabbits used for the test died, because they had to be surgically opened in order to examine the ovaries. While it was possible to do this without killing the rabbit, it was generally deemed not worth the trouble and expense.'

Taken from link below...google is an amazing tool!

Answer 2

The phrase, "THE RABBIT DIED," came to be a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test in the late 1920 and early 1930s. Around 1927 it was discovered that if you injected the urine of a pregnant woman into a rabbit, there would be corpora hemorrhagica in the ovaries of the rabbit. These bulging masses on the ovaries could not be seen with out killing the rabbit to inspect the ovaries, so invariably, every rabbit died, even if the woman wasn't pregnant.

Today, no bunnies are sacrificed for a woman to find out if she's pregnant. Tests today still look for Human Chorionic Gonadtropin (hCG), we have invented tests that are much easier to perform using blood or urine...

Answer 3

Rabbit Died Pregnancy Test

Answer 4

Rabbit Pregnancy Test

Answer 5

The origins of the "rabbit test" lie with the discovery in the 1920s that a woman starts producing a hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) shortly after a fertilized egg implants itself in the uterine wall. (It was later discovered that the presence of hCG causes the placenta to produce progesterone after implantation, necessary to prevent rejection of the developing embryo.) In 1927, medical researchers found that not only is hCG present in the urine of pregnant women, but that female rabbits injected with urine containing hCG would, within a few days, display distinct ovarian changes. Thus the "rabbit test" was born, and with it the misconception that the rabbit's death was an indicator of a positive result. In those early tests, the rabbit always died, because the animal had to be killed before its ovaries could be examined. Later refinements to the test enabled clinicians to inspect the ovaries without having to kill the rabbits first, but as the example cited above demonstrates, the misconception that the test rabbit died only if the woman was pregnant is still with us today, even though the "rabbit test" itself is not

Answer 6

The rabbit died but it did if the woman was pregnant or not. They had to kill the rabbit to check the ovaries.

I found this on snopes urban legends. It explains all. Go to the site if you want the whole story.

The origins of the "rabbit test" lie with the discovery in the 1920s that a woman starts producing a hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) shortly after a fertilized egg implants itself in the uterine wall. (It was later discovered that the presence of hCG causes the placenta to produce progesterone after implantation, necessary to prevent rejection of the developing embryo.) In 1927, medical researchers found that not only is hCG present in the urine of pregnant women, but that female rabbits injected with urine containing hCG would, within a few days, display distinct ovarian changes. Thus the "rabbit test" was born, and with it the misconception that the rabbit's death was an indicator of a positive result. In those early tests, the rabbit always died, because the animal had to be killed before its ovaries could be examined. Later refinements to the test enabled clinicians to inspect the ovaries without having to kill the rabbits first, but as the example cited above demonstrates, the misconception that the test rabbit died only if the woman was pregnant is still with us today, even though the "rabbit test" itself is not.

Answer 7

A way of stating someone is pregnant. Refers to the old test of injecting a rabbit. If the rabbit survived, the person wasn't pregnant, if it died, they were.

Answer 8

hi,
they used a part of the rabbit to see if the woman was pregnant it at the time was the only way to know and they had to kill the rabbit to get this particular part i think, i am not sure on how it was done but it was something like that

Answer 9

they say that because the used the rabbits for pregnacy test
and if it died that ment that the women was pregnant or if the rabbit died it was pregnant

Answer 10

Because years ago, a rabbit was used for the pregnancy test and if the rabbit died, it showed you were pregnant. We've come a LONG way baby!