In the 19th century, many believed in “maternal impression”– the idea that women could “mark” a fetus during pregnancy.
In 1817, when Galloway man John Woods said he wouldn’t accept paternity unless the child had his name writ large on its face, apparently…
References
T.E.C. (1976) The power of maternal impression causes the alleged father’s name to appear in legible letters in his infant son’s right eye. Pediatrics 58(6): 901