Holly den Ouden and her family were in the late stages of adopting a teenage girl from Ukraine when Russia invaded, halting the process and stranding 17-year-old Nastya in a war zone.
“We are very afraid. We’re very scared every day for her safety,” said den Ouden, who lives in Langley, B.C., with her husband Jeremy and two sons, aged 8 and 11.
The family started the adoption process in 2019. They met Nastya that same year when she visited Canada through a program that places children with potential adoptive families.
For now, she is safe in an orphanage in an
