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Jamie-Lynn Sigler Opens Up About Having More Kids And Living With MS

Actress went public with her disease last year

By Marc Malkin May 04, 2017 10:48 PMTags
Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Beau, Cutter Dykstra Jerod Harris/GC Images

Jamie-Lynn Sigler isn't letting multiple sclerosis get the best of her.

In fact, the Sopranos actress says she and her pro-baseball player husband Cutter Dykstra are planning to have another child. Their son Beau is three years old.

"When I was pregnant with my son, it was in remission," Sigler, 35, says of her MS, which she was first diagnosed with when she was 20. "It was glorious and it's an amazing thing to happen for women living with MS. I welcome it and my doctors welcome it. I think we just figured out that it might be the right time."

Sigler went public with her MS last year.

"I think I've gotten to this point where I don't want to be at war with myself anymore," Sigler said. "You can wake up every day and feel like your own body is betraying you. I've worked hard, very hard, to find peace and figuring out how I can work with my body and not against it."

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She will be honored tomorrow night with the Medal of Hope Award at Nancy Davis' 24th annual Race to Erase MS Gala in Beverly Hills.

"I was given MS for a reason and I don't know why," Sigler said. "I would never have chosen it for myself but I've got to figure out how to make the best of it, make it worth it, because otherwise life can feel pretty bleak. I'm not trying to sugarcoat it though. I still have my moments. I still have days where it just sucks but I've got to do the best that I can with this. That has been sort of my new mantra and affirmations that I recite to myself daily because I have no choice."

Davis praises Sigler for her honesty and decision to use her voice in the fight against MS. "Since she did come out I think it's made a huge difference in people's lives, people who really identify with her and her age," Davis said. "So many young people have MS...I think a lot of people feel like, 'Hey, it's OK, I'm not the only person with this.'"

Davis launched Race to Erase 24 years ago.

"I had a great big vision which I still have," Davis says. "I'm so grateful and lucky because when I first started doing the event I knew I had to do something but I didn't have all my ducks in a row and I didn't understand as much as I do now."

This year's gala will feature performances by Chicago, David Foster and singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett. Presenters will include Lance Bass, Kate Graham, Kathy Griffin, Randy Jackson and Howie Mandel.

For more information on Race to Erase MS, go to erasems.org.