Keli Lane, the former athlete convicted of murdering one of her three secret babies, was psychologically driven to keep falling pregnant, according to a psychiatrist.
In a report tendered at Lane's sentencing hearing, Dr Michael Diamond said her overriding motive related to her wish to be pregnant after having two terminations as a teenager.
"Each subsequent pregnancy, in my view, represented a further psychologically driven motivation `to have the baby she could not have'," he said.
"The behaviour seems to defy any rational explanation for repeating such a poor choice, yet the compulsion to repeat the behaviour is powerful."
Two reports by the psychiatrist, who has not interviewed Lane and who has yet to be cross-examined, were tendered by the crown in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.
Last December, Lane, 36, was found guilty of murdering her newborn second child, Tegan, on September 14, 1996, after they left Auburn hospital and before she went to a wedding.
The former water polo champion appeared to be on the verge of tears throughout the sentencing hearing, which was attended by her mother, brother and other supporters.
Lane kept three pregnancies and births secret, adopting out her first and third babies, while she retained custody of her fourth child. No trace has been found of Tegan.
During his sentencing submissions, crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC contended that Lane intended to kill Tegan, not just to cause her serious harm as is suggested by the defence.
He also rejected a defence submission that there was no premeditation, but added that the judge may find it occurred only on the day of the killing.
In his report, Dr Diamond said there was no evidence that Lane suffered from any mental illness or disorder.
"She is capable of carrying out audacious and extremely difficult actions in order to solve problems that are in front of her," he said.
"It is a similar state of mind that I believe she determined the fate of Tegan Lane."
He said that Lane's then boyfriend was the only person who knew about her first termination, when she was 17, and for her to cope with limited support was "notable".
"It was always open to Ms Lane to be more diligent with her contraception," he said.
"It is unlikely that she would have become pregnant repeatedly on six occasions simply because of lack of contraceptive application."
He opined that her overriding motive related to "her wish to be pregnant in the face of having to abort two previous pregnancies".
However, he said,the consequences of pregnancy and having to deal with a baby "were not processed" and Lane continued to pursue her education, water polo career and social relationships as if she was not pregnant.
He spoke of "repetition compulsion" - a powerful drive to "revisit an unresolved previous unsatisfactory and emotionally distressing experience that can be corrected by managing the current one more successfully".
Lane finally achieved her goal with her fourth live birth, he said.
Dr Diamond said her capacity for lying in order to manipulate those around her was a highly developed aspect of her personality.
"She does this brazenly," he added.
He also referred to her "ability to shut down emotionally and to experience emotional numbing or detachment to a marked degree".
Justice Whealy adjourned the hearing to Friday, to enable the defence to have a psychiatrist respond to Dr Diamond's reports and for Lane's barrister to make submissions.
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