Shane and Hannah Burcaw, the interabled couple behind Squirmy and Grubs on social media, saw their long-awaited prayers answered this spring when they discovered they were going to become parents.
Announcing the news on Instagram on September 8, the pair explained that while they had initially chosen to keep the news private, they “missed sharing the joy” with their followers.
Highlights
- Shane and Hannah Burcaw are expecting their first child after years of fertility struggles
- The couple has openly addressed misconceptions surrounding their intimate life and disability
- Shane previously explained the likelihood of their child inheriting his genetic condition
Best wishes quickly poured in, with several fans calling the milestone the “perfect next step” in their extraordinary love story.
Others, however, wondered how the pregnancy was physically possible, despite the couple having openly discussed their intimate life over the years.
“Disabled people can have s**,” Shane once shared.
Shane and Hannah Burcaw’s happy news came after years of IVF struggles
Hannah was a freshman at Carleton College in 2016 when she saw a documentary about Shane, who lives with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder that damages nerve cells, leaving a person with limited mobility.
Impressed by his humor and his ability to embrace his shortcomings, she sent him a cold email.
Soon, the two began dating and, after years of long-distance and then in-person romance, tied the knot in 2020.
In January 2025, they released their first book, Interabled: True Stories About Love and Disability, from Squirmy & Grubs and Other Interabled Couples.
People assumed at the time that Hannah was signing up for a life of childlessness and celibacy, but the pair were quick to denounce the idea.
“It’s far from true. We have a satisfying intimate life, and both of us are interested in having children together down the road,” they said.
Their hopes of starting a family, however, proved more difficult to realize than expected, leading them to IVF.
That journey, too, tested the pair deeply as they went through several rounds of unsuccessful treatments.
After losing hope because of the setbacks and taking a years-long break, the couple shared this past January that they were going to try having kids again, though they did not clarify whether they were pursuing IVF once more.
That information was also missing from their announcement post, in which they said they would become parents at the beginning of next year.
The influencers shared several heartwarming pictures while announcing a new baby-focused venture
Shane and Hannah shared that they were doing well amid the major transition in their lives and were excited to take fans along for a ride.
To begin the same, the couple released a photograph of Hannah caressing her baby bump, as well as ultrasound images of their little one guarded by their pet dog.
Then came a detailed video in which they revealed the challenges they had faced so far, which, as of this writing, has been viewed more than 700,000 times.
In both the video and their Instagram post, the couple announced they were participating in the trend of fulfilling registry items for other expecting families and invited followers to drop their registry links in the comments.
For more, they encouraged fans to keep an eye on their newly launched baby blog, which they said was created to “be thoughtful and intentional about how we share our child with the world.”
Shane and Hannah’s content has long addressed curiosities surrounding their intimate life
Shane previously revealed that when launching their channel, he had no idea how much people would question his and Hannah’s intimate life.
The questions, he said, made him realize they were viewed as “asexual beings,” to which Hannah questioned whether it stemmed from the misconception that his male parts did not work.
“Well, that,” he answered, continuing, “and they see my attraction, my ability to attract a partner as non-existent.”
“And that even if you did, it wouldn’t work,” Hannah added.
Shane responded to this in his book Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse, writing that disabled people can be “amazing romantic partners.”
“They can have amazing s**,” he added. “We are just as s**ual as our non-disabled counterparts.”
Rather than viewing physical limitations as a hurdle, the couple sees them as a strength that fosters deeper connection through trust and adaptation.
Shane explained, “I thoroughly believe that my disability makes our s** life better, and this is a topic that we don’t want to give too many personal details, but like, it has required more communication, more creativity to find ways that work well for us.”
Netizens claimed the child could inherit Shane’s disability, but he had addressed the concern years ago
“I’m uneducated on his condition. Is it 100% preventable for the newborn?” one person asked, while another wrote, “Imposing the life of a wheelchair onto your children is unethical.”
“I understand their love, but I don’t fully understand their decision,” remarked a third.
Shane had denounced the worries in a 2019 profile for Today.
“Unless Hannah is also a carrier of the genetic traits that cause spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), our children will not have the disease,” he wrote. “If she is a carrier, our children will have a 50-50 chance of having SMA.”
That same year, Hannah underwent a test to determine whether she carried the gene associated with SMA, and her results came back negative.
"Happy for them," a fan commented following Shane and Hannah's pregnancy announcement
