‘Bachelor’ Contestant’s Heartbreaking Story of Coming to America From Russia

On Monday’s The Bachelor, Kristina shared her heartbreaking story of how she came to the United States. She grew up in a small village in Russia and was raised by her mother, who was not able to gather enough food for the two of them. When her mother found out that Kristina had eaten against her wishes, she was told to leave her house, at the age of five.

Kristina sought refuge in an orphanage until the age of 12. However, she described her grim future, “At 16, you had to leave the orphanage. So you either found your family members or you moved to a bigger city — and good luck surviving. It’s so easy to turn to prostitution to make money, and I did not want that for myself.”

Luckily, Kristina was adopted by a family in the United States. After making the heartbreaking decision of saying goodbye to everyone she’s ever known, she was welcomed with open arms by her loving, new family.

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.

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