In 2010, Keli Lane was sent to prison for murdering her baby. This is her life now ahead of release.

Keli Lane was in her final year of high school when she fell pregnant for the first time.

It was 1992, and Lane had chosen to have an abortion. Lane had a second abortion in her late teens, followed by three pregnancies in her early twenties, all of which she carried to term. She didn't tell anyone about these pregnancies, concealing them from the people closest to her.

In 1995, she gave birth to a baby girl who was soon adopted out. Her second daughter, Tegan, was born a year later on September 12, 1996 at Western Sydney's Auburn Hospital. Three years later in 1999, Keli gave birth to a son who was also adopted out.

It's what happened to baby Tegan that has resulted in Lane spending the last 13 years of her life behind bars. 

In 2010, Lane was convicted of murdering her two-day-old daughter, Tegan Lee Lane. The child, who was Lane's fourth pregnancy in just five years, has never been found.

She was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in jail with a non-parole period of 13 years and five months. 

She has always maintained her innocence.

Watch: The Case of Keli Lane trailer. Post continues below.

Lane grew up in Sydney's Northern Beaches area, known in her community for being a very talented water polo player and teacher who had dreams of competing in the Olympics.

In 1996, Lane fell pregnant. 

On September 12, she went to Auburn Hospital in outer western Sydney and delivered her baby, a daughter she called Tegan. Two days after giving birth, Lane left the hospital with Tegan around approximately 11am to 12pm. Lane had not yet been discharged from hospital, nor were the staff there aware she had plans to leave early.

By 3pm, police say she arrived back at her parent's home on the Northern Beaches - without baby Tegan. 

That night she attended a friend's wedding with her then-partner. Her parents, nor her parent, or friends, had any idea she was pregnant, let alone that she had just given birth. 

As for how she had managed to mostly hide five pregnancies from her loved ones throughout the 1990s, Lane wasn't entirely successful in concealing them. She wore baggy clothing around her family, but it was in the pool while playing water polo that it became obvious to some of her team members. But they did not say anything to Lane. 

As a teammate said during a recent docuseries: "Talk was everywhere."

Lane's then water polo coach also told the court he had spoken to Lane about missing training and gaining weight, but did not know she was pregnant. He said weight was "a sensitive issue" to discuss with female athletes and he tried to avoid conflict with them over it.

Keli Lane during the 1990s. Image: Supplied.

After Lane gave birth to her final child in 1999, a community services worker noticed that Lane had given birth twice previously - and one of the children was unaccounted for. Police were then notified and the investigation began.

A coronial inquest ran from 2005 to 2006. 

Then in 2010, Lane was convicted of murdering baby Tegan. The case and conviction were based on circumstantial evidence, as Tegan has never been found.

Lane has always claimed innocence, saying on the day she left Auburn Hospital she took Tegan with her and gave her baby to the biological father, with whom she had a brief affair.

Lane said his name was Andrew, and his last name was either Norris or Morris. Andrew's identity has never been verified, nor has he been located, or baby Tegan.

During her time in court, Lane's story of what happened to her daughter differed on a number of occasions.

Keli Lane's life now.

For the past 13 years, Lane has been moved around throughout various NSW jails including Silverwater, Dillwynia and Clarence Correctional Centre on the state's Mid North Coast.

The now 48-year-old is nearing the end of her sentence and will be eligible for parole in nine months' time. 

Recently in NSW, the state government introduced the 'no body no parole' laws. The new legislation makes it difficult for convicted murderers to be released on parole if they refuse to reveal the location of their victims' remains. As for how these new laws will impact Lane - time will tell. 

This week, Lane was seen for the first time in years, reporters seeing her working at a milk processing plant on the outskirts of western Sydney.

According to 9News, Lane 48-year-old is living in a halfway house and working full-time producing dairy products for the state's prison population as she readies herself for potential release.

Forensic anthropologist and criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallettalso told the publication that Lane has been a "model prisoner" during her incarceration.

"She's spent time working with other inmates on diet and exercise and really improving their lives. Kelly will certainly still want to clear her name. She will want to maintain her innocence upon her release."

In recent years she has only spoken on one occasion to the media, in a bid to profess her innocence.

In 2018, she was interviewed partly for ABC's three-part documentary series Exposed: the Case of Keli Lane, which is now available to watch on Netflix. The docuseries revealed there was a potentially flawed police investigation and this may have hindered Lane's case.

ABC investigative journalist Caro Meldrum Hanna - who was the lead on the docuseries - spoke with Mamamia at the time about her conversations with Lane. 

"The best I could do was ask her, 'You have been accused of telling many, many lies over a very long time, are you going to be honest with me?' And she said she would be," Hanna said to Mia Freedman on No Filter.

"I still believe that standard of reasonable doubt wasn't met for murder. Putting her guilt or innocence aside, if we ever find the body of Tegan or not - was that standard of beyond a reasonable doubt met during that trial? From where I'm coming from, I don't think it was."

Feature Image: via AAP.