I was born with a rare genetic disorder, known as Sacral Agenesis. If I was born today, my medical diagnosis could have been called Spinal Bifida. These two disabilities are very similar and very slightly. My legs were severely deformed with the feet pointing in opposite directions. This was not painful for me because I had no feeling in them. When you are an active child, at age two, your legs can become a danger to you. At this young age my parents consulted with several doctors, surgeons and specialists to find the best coarse of action for the useless legs. The big question weighing on my parents mind. Do we amputate? Or not? We could have her fitted into a wheelchair. What do you think they decided to do? There insightful decision allows me to lead a fairly normal childhood.

I grew up living in Pueblo, CO with my parents and younger brother Jim, who is mentally challenged. Jim and I grew up living in a small ranch style house my mother inherited from my grandfathers passing in the late 70's. I played with the neighborhood kids just like every other kid on the block. My main mode of transportation was my skateboard. I was able to keep up with the kids while they would run up and down the block and I was able to keep pace with them as I rode my skateboard. We found hours of entertainment in playing hide n seek, dodge ball or even playing some street football. When kids would ask about my disability, or even when the adults become curious and they would ask about my physical condition. Immediately I would describe my physical condition in a way I felt was the best visual. "If you take a Barbie doll and remove her legs, the region your left with is the exact same region I have. I have all the female working organs/parts." Usually kids and adults walked away with a better understanding of my disability. School for me was not as pleasant as being in the neighborhood. When I started attending school, in the late 70's the school officials were mainstreaming disabled children with normal children (administrative talk). This was the start of the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) try to place a disabled child into and have them look like, talk like, and function like a normal child as if they were no different. I was forced to physically look like everyone else. What I mean is my parent and I were told I needed to get fitted with prosthesis (artificial legs). This would allow me to look just as tall and also look just like everyone else meaning having all limbs ( two arms, two legs), I became submissive with the school administrators during my middle school years but became a voice when I reached High School. I was told after the first few weeks of attending high school I was eventually told come to class however I felt comfortable. I was most comfortable with my main mode of transportation being my skateboard.

As a teenager, I found I had a great passion for cars, mostly for the mid 1970's muscle cars. I should of known automotive was in my blood, my parents would tell me stories of them losing me and finding me playing inside my dad's toolbox in the garage at the young age of three. As you may suspect my parents continued to support me in my automotive passion by purchasing me my first muscle car a 1974 Chevy Camaro at the age of sixteen. As a young adult, I continued with my passion for automotive and enrolled in automotive classes to earn my bachelors degree in Automotive Management. I worked at a local automotive repair shop for a few years. This is the place where I met my husband "Dave" in 1997. Our friendship blossomed into a wonderful relationship. We married in 1999 and in that same year we had our son Luke.

My pregnancy was extraordinary and ground breaking, no one with Sacral Agenesis had carried a baby to nearly full term nor gave birth to a normal child. On January 6th 1999, Luke Ryan Siggins was born. Even now nearly thirteen years later, I remain the only person who has carried and given birth to a normal child. I not only have done this once but twice and both pregnancies were documented. The reason the pregnancies were so extraordinary and groundbreaking no one has done this. The medical world knew I was laying my life on the line. Dave and I spoke with a Neo Natal Specialist, Dr Robert Wolfson, who I believe is the best specialist. He immediately explained to us if we continue to move forward with this pregnancy you could die. The main concerns were my lungs could be compressed, as the baby was likely to grow up the way because of my short stature. The other concern was how she would tolerate a caesarean delivery, because the baby was lying transversely I would be having to be opened across the top, a true 19th century caesarean delivery. I made sure through out the pregnancy everyone from the medical to personal individuals I knew understood if complications would arise and a choice had to be made in a desperate situation the child would be chosen.

As Luke turned three years old my life experienced a terrible tragedy. We found out that my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer near the holidays and after we celebrated Luke's third birthday my mother passed away January 16th 2002. My mother was the glue that held everyone together in our family and with her passing I would now have to try and fill some really big shoes. Taking care of my dad and brother along with having my own family I began to feel stretched a little thin. Dave and I made a decision and we moved into my small ranch style family home. The house had many years of wear and tear from now having two going on three generations living inside the walls.My brother and I had many conflicts and arguments and we finally found a program who could help him become an independent person and live with others just like him.

While I thought life would never get better, Dave and I found out we were expecting our second child. It was a surprise to us since the last time I was pregnant was nearly seven years ago. We felt it was a blessing from heaven since my mother and I talked about us having a little girl someday. I promised her if we should ever have a daughter her middle name would be my mothers name "Cecilia". On January 11, 2006 Shelby Cecilia Siggins was born. Many have said I have a great moral strength and a remarkable attitude but I owe a enormous thank you to my mom. She would always say, "A lot of people with disabilities feel that life owes them something, just remember no one owes you a dime. The world doesn't owe you anything, this is what you have and you use your resources and you get through it."