A Yale University student's claims to have induced multiple miscarriages for an art project have been branded "creative fiction" by college deans.

Aliza Shvarts, an art undergraduate at the prestigious Ivy League university, said she artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" while periodically taking abortion-inducing drugs.

But Yale University said the project was a hoax, designed to make people think about a woman's body.

Helaine S. Klasky, a university spokesperson, said: "(Shvarts) stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman's body."

The installation, a fourth-year project - will document a nine-month process featuring video recordings of the forced miscarriages, performed in a bathtub, as well as preserved collections of the blood.

Shvarts initially said she was not aiming for "shock value" but she simply wanted to prompt a debate on the relationship between art and the human body.

However, news of her creation has reportedly horrified some students and teachers at Yale, including those on both sides of the abortion debate.

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