Natalia Barnett has gone through a lot in her life, including being a disabled immigrant, put up for adoption, then adopted and given back by her first family. When the Barnetts adopted her, it should have been a blessing, right? There are dozens of different stories about how Natalia “terrorized” the Barnett family, but what is the truth? Did Natalia lie about her age? Did she use the Barnett family to pay for her medical expenses? Or was she just a little girl looking for a family to love her?
Natalia Grace was born in Ukraine and has a rare form of dwarfism called diastrophic dysplasia. In 2008, Natalia was adopted by a U.S. family but was put back up for adoption in 2010. A new family, the Barnetts, wanted a daughter and believed they found a sweet, seven year old girl in need. But after some time with her, the Barnetts began to think they had been schemed. Natalia was showing signs of being far older than seven. The Barnetts raised suspicion of Natalia’s possible age on several occasions. The first one being that when they first brought Natalia home and Kristen gave her a bath, Natalia had full pubic hair. Michael Barnett claims that she also had her period and was hiding her bloody underwear. After two years of suspicion, they took their adopted daughter to court and the judge ruled to have her age legally changed from eight to twenty-two. As an adult, the Barnetts were legally allowed to move her out of the home and set up an apartment where Natalia would live independently.
Still, because of her disability, Kristine and Michael Barnett would remain her legal guardians. In the documentary series “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,” Kristine and Michael’s sides of the complicated story are told. They allege that Natalia was violent to their three biological children. Kristen claims that Natalia had pushed her into an electric fence and at a different point, stood at the foot of her and her ex husband’s bed with knives while they were sleeping. Michael claimed that Natalia had placed thumbtacks throughout the house for the family to step on. Michael said that Natalia repeatedly attempted to urinate on her six year old brother Ethan. Michael Barnett also claims there were instances where she would hide knives in her bedroom or take her brother’s toys and throw them in the street. The biggest accusation from the Barnett family was that they claimed that Natalia threatened to kill the family while they were sleeping. Natalia was interviewed on Dr. Phil and denied all claims and said she never tried to hurt Kristine or her brothers. Natalia states in the docu-series, “The things that Kristine and Michael have said that I’ve done are a lie. It was all copied off the movie Orphan.”
Whether Natalia was seven years old or in her twenties, there is no denying the fact that this adoption story does sound like it could have come from a movie script. Coincidentally, the horror mystery movie Orphan does have a shockingly similar story. The 2009 film is about a child Esther, played by Isabelle Fuhrman, who was adopted by a couple that lost their unborn child. The film is historical fiction but inspired by two true stories. The description of the movie on IMDb.com is “A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9 year old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.”
Natalia is now studying to obtain her high school diploma. She hired an attorney and her age was changed back to what she originally claimed it was. She is currently living as a 21 year old woman in the care of the DePauls family, a married couple who also have dwarfism and attempted to adopt Natalia before the Barnetts. While now they don’t plan on fully adopting Natalia they say that Natalia still feels like family. She is actively speaking out about her unique story attempting to inspire others. At the end of the court case about Natalia’s age and allegations of abandonment, the Barnetts were charged with neglect. Michael was acquitted in 2022 while Kristine was dismissed in 2023. Michael Barnett filed for divorce from Kristine in 2014 and it was finalized in 2018. It is unclear what their current relationship is with Natalia.
