A six-part documentary will examine the curious case of a 'six-year-old' orphan from Ukraine whose adopted parents Michael Barnett and wife Kristine believed had a rare bone growth disorder. The strange story of Natalia Grace is set to air in a new investigation on Discovery.
Due to air across three consecutive nights, the adoptive parents are set to tell how the girl, who they say was actually a 22-year-old woman "masqueraded as a child with intent to harm them" in shocking claims. Dad Michael claims that he can prove that Natalia is a 22-year-old woman, something that she denies.
According to the Mirror, the American couple were recently acquitted of neglect charges after abandoning her to live alone in an apartment while they moved to Canada. The parents claim that the girl was 22 at the time they left her - despite her calming she was just a child in court.
In 2012, the family successfully petitioned court to legally change their adoptive daughter's birth year from 2003 to 1989, which in turn changed her age from eight to 22. Michael has now spoken out to reveal the tell-tale signs that he claims prove she was not a child like she claims.
In one instance he recalls the day that they adopted Natalia, he says: "We get to the hotel that night, and Kristine’s going to give our brand new daughter a bath, and I hear a shout from the bathroom. This was a, ‘I’m not playing around, come here right now, Michael’ shout."
He then explains how he went into the bathroom to see his wife shocked looking at the girls unclothed body. Michael explains that she "had full pubic hair", with him adding: "And I don’t know what you think. Is that possible? Is that even possible? Who the f**k is this person?"
In another instance, he recalls how his wife discovered a pair of Natalia's underwear, with a home video showing the couple telling the girl to explain what had happened.
He said: "I can remember her physical-ness at the time, her hands were just out in front of her like this, and she’s like, 'Well, I have a period, and I’ve been hiding it."
According to the family, this is when they started to question the real age of the orphan. Natalia has a rare form of Dwarfism called Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Congenita, and has previously denied the claims surrounding the alleged abuse and being an adult at the time of adoption.
Responding to the family's allegations that she was an adult, Natalia spoke to Dr Phil in an interview a couple of years ago when she said: "It's not true. It's not true at all. I just want people to hear my side." Michael Barnett and his now ex-wife Kristine Barnett were charged in September 2019 with multiple counts of neglect, with him acquitted last fall.
And in March of this year, the charges against Kristina were dropped, according to WTHR.
Meanwhile, Natalia has found a new family and is living with her new adoptive parents Cynthia and Anton Mans and their five children. The Curious Case of Natalia Grace will premiere across three consecutive nights on ID beginning Monday, May 29, airing nightly from 9-11 pm ET/PT.
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