Kentucky mother refuses to leave Ukraine without adopted child she’s waiting to bring home

The war in Ukraine has forced millions to flee, but a Kentucky mother had a different idea: she packed her bags and headed toward a war zone. The mission: Bring home the newest addition to her family.

“I decided to come here because we were awaiting court for the finalization of our daughter, who was evacuated from Donetsk to Lviv,” Colleen Thompson told ABC News Live in an interview April 7.

Thompson’s daughter, Maure, who turned 18 just a few days before the attacks began, is one of more than 300 orphans who were in the process of being adopted by Americans before Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the United Nations.

Thompson added that she also made the tough decision to say goodbye to the rest of her children at home in the U.S. so she could help other Ukrainian orphans.

The war has made it impossible for Thompson and other adoptive families to finalize the necessary documentation to bring their children to America. Orphanages are being evacuated as Russia continues its assault, so it's also difficult to keep track of where children may be living, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

“We were working with several government agencies helping to evacuate children from orphanages and aged-out children who had graduated from the orphanage. We were helping to evacuate them in the early stages of the war,” she said.

With pizza, games, tutoring, and companionship, Thompson has helped to make the children feel at home until they’re able to meet their new families.

“I’m able to do FaceTime calls with the kiddos in this group who are being adopted by Americans so that they can say ‘Hi’ to their children, and see them,” said Thompson.

When Thompson arrived in Ukraine on March 3, she hoped to move her daughter, Maure, and the other children waiting to be adopted, to the United States. But now, more than a month later, they’re still stuck in Lviv. Thompson said she’s glad to be with her daughter, but says they’re in an unsafe position, along with the 43 other children who traveled from Donetsk to Lviv with Maure.

“We have air raid sirens here multiple times a day and the children have to go underneath the orphanage every time. It happens, all kinds of things. And it's distressing, scary,” Thompson told ABC News.

Although the children can travel to neighboring countries, Thompson said they have been repeatedly told by the State Department that they can’t go to their new homes in America until the adoption is finalized.

“Twenty-two E.U. countries, many of whom don't do adoptions and don't have the strong ties that America does, are housing these children,” said Thompson.

According to the State Department’s website, a child without a final adoption or guardianship order is not eligible for a visa. The U.S. immigration law determines eligibility for visas, and according to the department’s website, officials don’t have the authority to make exceptions.

On March 22, a bipartisan group of legislators sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling on the State Department to unite American parents with the Ukrainian children they were already in the process of adopting. Thompson said they had a call with the State Department and parents of the Ukrainian children on Wednesday night, and that they were again told the adoption process needed to first be finalized.

“It seems like a simple ask,” said Thompson. “These American families have been vetted, background checked, trained and they're bonded with these children. They're in the process of adopting. We are the best suited and most safe option for these children to have a place to stay while it's unsafe to be in Ukraine.”

As the organizations on the ground in Ukraine, and legislators here, continue to work to find a way to bring these children to the United States, Thompson said she will do what she can to make a difference in their lives. She plans on staying with Maure until they’re able to return to Kentucky together.