Stolen Family

Johanne Durocher fights to free her daughter and four grandchildren from a nightmarish life of abuse and poverty in Saudi Arabia.

In 2001, Nathalie Morin was just seventeen when she met Saeed, a Saudi man who claimed to be studying in Montreal. She fell in love with him and then became pregnant, but soon afterward Saeed was deported back to his country of origin. Nathalie decided to join him in Saudi Arabia with her baby, Samir, confident that she would be able to return to Canada whenever she wanted. But a trap was closing around her: her partner turned out to be violent and authoritarian.

According to Saudi law, Nathalie was considered married and thus under Saeed’s legal authority. All too often she was shut away in her own house, a place of hellish poverty. In 2005, Johanne Durocher, Nathalie’s mother, began her struggle to get Nathalie back home to Canada with her four children: Samir, Abdullah, Sarah, and Fowaz. While Nathalie is allowed to return on her own, her children cannot leave Saudi Arabia without their father’s consent. And Nathalie will not leave without them.

Johanne has left no stone unturned in her efforts to fight her daughter’s case: she has approached governments, embassies, NGOs, media, politicians, and more. Although her hopes have been raised several times, nothing has led to bringing her family home.

This book tells the story of her fight.