When captured by the law, they both claimed to be pregnant so they couldn't be executed.

Then again, looking at her history: Mary Read called herself Mark Read & may have been trans.

actually, while woman pirates were rare, it was considered extremely unlucky to bring a female on a ship (although this was just superstition) so most female pirates were either rejected, or as those who still wanted to be pirates did, pretended to be men.

although there were a few exceptions such as the pirate queen of japan (or china i dont remember) who led her crew due to her husband's passing, this is how most female pirates came into power was via their husbands(or trusted friends who knew their secret such as mary and anne) inviting them on board.

those who were caught were very swiftly and brutally executed on the spot. anne and mary only met each other because one made passes at the other during their shifts.