A woman from Urumqi, northwest China has avoided jail for ten years by getting pregnant 14 times in the course of a decade.

The woman, known only as Zeng, was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption by Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court ten years ago.

When she learned that she faced jail time she announced that she was pregnant, and the court decided to allow her to go on probation, The People’s Daily Online reported.

According to Chinese laws, pregnant women may be given probation when jail sentences are made. After the first probation decision was granted, Zeng went for an abortion. And after she regained health, she fell pregnant again and re-applied for probation.

This pattern continued for ten years, with Zeng claiming 14 pregnancies to avoid serving time – only one of which was ultimately found to be false.

However it is unknown whether any of the babies were carried full-term, or whether all of them were aborted over the course of the decade.

Zeng, now 39, has finally been imprisoned after a re-submission of the order by the Municipal Bureau of Justice.