When Stacey Frigerio and Sharif Mahdavian were married a decade ago she gave him a lengthy list of the things she couldn’t do, including bear children.

Stacey broke her back in a car accident the summer after college and was told it wasn’t possible for her to have children.

Not one to take ‘no’ for an answer, Stacey since has given birth to Anastasia, Andrew, and Alex.Today, Stacey walks with canes and leg braces, and sometimes uses a wheelchair. She has an adult tricycle for family bike rides and plays tennis with her children from her wheelchair.

“I always vowed I would not be a damsel in distress,” Stacey told The New York Times.

Click hear to read the love story of Stacey and Sharif and their children.