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{{trope|wppage=Rabbit test}}
{{quote|''In time, the test and science advanced enough for the doctor to be able to check whether the rabbit had an estrous reaction without killing it, much to the relief of cute little fluffy bunnies everywhere.''
|Karl Smallwood, ''Today I Found Out'', "[http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/06/time-rabbits-used-accurately-detect-pregnancy/ The Surprisingly Recent Time Tests Using Rabbits and Frogs Were the Gold Standard to Accurately Detect Human Pregnancy]"}}
In the long-gone days before fifteen-minute home pregnancy tests made it obsolete, the only way a woman had to find out she was pregnant -- at least before the physiological effects made it obvious -- was the classic "rabbit test". Properly known as the "Friedman test", this involved injecting a female rabbit with a woman's urine, and then examining its ovaries a few days later to see if they had enlarged from the presence of the hormone [[w:Human chorionic gonadotropin|hGC]] in it. ▼
▲In the long-gone days before fifteen-minute home pregnancy tests made it obsolete, the only way a woman had to find out she was pregnant
"'''The Rabbit Died'''" became a [[Stock Phrase]] for a positive -- that is, pregnant -- result.<ref>However, since it was necessary to dissect the rabbit to examine its ovaries, it ''always'' died.</ref> Although it was replaced in the 1960s by immunoassays that didn't involve animal testing, "the rabbit test" and "the rabbit died" remained in the popular lexicon for several decades afterward. Today in the early 21st century it is almost but not quite a [[Forgotten Trope]], still hanging on despite all the variations on the different ways various home pregnancy tests announce their results have tried to displace it over the years. It can still be heard now and then, though, usually in a humorous context, as well as in period works, of course.▼
▲Consequently "'''The Rabbit Died'''" became a [[Stock Phrase]] for a positive
Interestingly, because of their legendary fecundity rabbits and hares have long had an association with fertility and pregnancy in myth and folklore, which no doubt contributed ironically to the popularity and longevity of the phrase – as well as the persistent (although not universal) appearance of rabbits as a symbol or thematic element in works where pregnancy (or to a lesser degree sexuality) is a prominent plot element.
Not to be confused with ''[[Doctor Rabbit]]'', anything involving [[Bugs Bunny]], or the metalcore group [[The Dead Rabbitts]].
{{examples}}
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In [https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-16165-26/EllandrahSylver+Fool+s+Consequences.htm chapter 26] of ''[[Fool's Consequences]]'', a ''[[Harry Potter]]/[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' fanfic by "EllandrahSylver", Buffy invokes and discusses the trope:
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* Provides the title for the 1979 [[Billy Crystal]] film ''[[Rabbit Test (film)|Rabbit Test]]'' about [[Mister Seahorse|a man getting pregnant]].
* Similarly, the 2016 [[Short Film]] ''[[The Rabbit Died (film)|The Rabbit Died]]'' is about a man getting pregnant.
* [[Roman Polanski]]'s 1965 film ''[[Repulsion]]'' has a persistent motif of rabbits connected to issues of sexuality.
== [[Literature]] ==
* The 1995 short story [https://web.archive.org/web/20041209205559/http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/show.html?fn.rabbit "Rabbit Test"] by Jeffrey Ford depicts the husband of woman having trouble with a pregnancy feeling himself haunted by rabbits at all turns.
* [https://fabulaargentea.com/index.php/article/year-of-the-rabbit-by-lisa-meltzer-penn/ "Year of the Rabbit"], a short story by Lisa Meltzer Penn, mixes rabbit symbolism for general fertility with genuine rabbits at large with a pair of pregnancy tests a generation apart.
* Invoked in [https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/02/what-are-you-looking-at/ "What Are You Looking At?"], a short story by Chris Kuriata published in 2018 by the ''Saturday Evening Post'':
{{quote|As soon as possible, Olivia and Otto met with Dr. Janowski for what Olivia termed "a proper rabbit test."
Otto was surprised anyone still used the term "rabbit test." The procedure was already obsolete by the 1950s, replaced by the "frog test." ... Unfortunately, frogs were not cute and fuzzy, which was why "rabbit test" succeeded in becoming the euphemism. Made sense. Otto couldn't imagine a home pregnancy kit using a cartoon frog as their mascot, but wouldn't be surprised to find one with an anthropomorphic rabbit on the box.}}
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* In "What's Up, Doc?", a sixth-season episode of ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'', the only way for Margaret to find out if she's pregnant (by her now-estranged husband) is to use one of Radar's rabbits for a rabbit test. Subverted, actually, in that Radar insists that they not kill his pet rabbit, and Hawkeye and Margaret perform surgery on the rabbit to remove its ovaries non-fatally
* Invoked in the episode "The Coat Hanger" of ''[[American Horror Story]]'' when Sister Mary Eunice says "The bad news is, the rabbit died" to Lana.
* The phrase is used in ''[[Maude]]'', when Maude discovers she's pregnant at age 47 in the episode "Maude's Dilemma: Part 1":
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'''Maude''': We're not kidding, Walter. The rabbit died.
'''Walter''': I know how he feels!}}
* Becomes an elaborate motif and multi-level pun in "Rabbit Test", a third-season episode of ''[[Ugly Betty]]''. While the episode initially revolves around Easter and its associated festivities, the plot eventually turns to focus on young William McKinney and his actual parentage, with Christina and Wilhelmina both taking part in a DNA test to discover which of them is his natural mother. ([[It Makes Sense in Context]].)
== [[Music]] ==
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''You can't catch me 'cause the rabbit done died
''Yes it did}}
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[[Category:Pages Original to All The Tropes]]
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