'Adopted child' Natalia Grace's dad Michael Barnett reveals telltale signs she was 22-year-old woman
Thirteen years ago, Michael Barnett and his wife Kristine brought home an orphaned six-year-old from Ukraine, and at the time, they thought the girl suffered from a rare bone growth problem. They had no idea that their lives would resemble a horror thriller film. 'The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,' a recent Investigation Discovery documentary, explores the bizarre tale.
The adoptive parents will reveal how she "masqueraded as a child with intent to harm them" in the six-part documentary that will show over three consecutive nights on ID starting Monday, May 29, from 9 pm to 11 pm ET. The adoptive father then presents the telltale indications he believes demonstrate that Natalia, their new daughter, was actually a 22-year-old woman, a claim Natalia still disputes.
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Michael and his ex-wife Kristine were recently cleared of neglect charges after leaving Natalia to live alone in a flat while they moved to Canada, the Mirror reports. The Barnetts claim in the startling new video that the girl was violent and attempted to kill the family after moving into their home. They assert that she was 22 when they left her despite her protests that she was only a child at the time.
What are the telltale signs Micheal Barnett is revealing?
The family was reportedly successful in asking the court in 2012 to change the birth year of their adopted daughter from 2003 to 1989, which altered her age from eight to 22. Michael has since spoken out regarding the telltale signs that, in his opinion, demonstrate Natalia was an adult and not a child as she has claimed.
'Kristine’s going to give our brand new daughter a bath'
The stunning and unsettling docuseries' opening episode features Michael talking about how he and his wife picked up on a few indications in the early going. The adoptive father recalled the night they adopted Natalia, "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."
'Had full pubic hair'
Then he describes how when he entered the bathroom, his wife was still in shock at seeing Natalia's naked body. In the episode, Michael describes how Natalia "had full pubic hair" when he entered the bathroom and looked down, adding, "And I don’t know what you think. Is that possible? Is that even possible? Who the f**k is this person?"
'I have a period, and I’ve been hiding it'
The couple was eager to sort things out and showed their adopted daughter "love and compassion" despite the upsetting revelation. His wife had found a pair of Natalia's underwear, he said, and a home video later showed the couple asking the daughter to explain what had happened. "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'," Michael recounted.
He continued by saying that this is when he started to wonder how old the orphan really was. Natalia has an uncommon form of dwarfism called Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Congenita and has previously refuted allegations of maltreatment and being an adult when she was adopted. Natalia has now found a new family and is now residing with Cynthia and Anton Mans and their five children.