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Adopted 'child' who turned out to be 22-year-old woman giving her side of story in new documentary

Home> Film & TV> News

Updated 15:03 24 Nov 2023 GMTPublished 15:02 24 Nov 2023 GMT

Adopted 'child' who turned out to be 22-year-old woman giving her side of story in new documentary

Natalia Grace's adoptive family believed she was six years old

Rhianna Benson

Rhianna Benson

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A doting set of parents were plunged into their worst nightmare back in 2010, when their beloved six-year-old adopted daughter was discovered to have an entirely secret identity altogether.

The case - which has since been compared to the spine-tingling story told in the 2009 horror movie Orphan - left psychologists, doctors and lawyers all over the world both dumbfounded and horrified.

Kristine and Michael Barnett were convinced they’d adopted a six-year-old Ukrainian girl when they welcomed Natalia Grace into their lives back in 2010.

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It wasn't long, however, before the couple started to notice their new 'child' exhibit some strange behavior.

It turned out their 'little girl' Natalia actually had a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal, and that, despite them believing her to just be six years old, she had 'periods, adult teeth and pubic hair'.

The unfathomable story was told in the Investigation Discovery documentary, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, in which Kristine and Michael detailed the 'horror' of their experience with an individual they now describe as a 'sociopath'.

Natalia Grace was adopted in 2010.
ID Discovery

The duo alleged that their breaking point came when Natalia allegedly threatened them with a knife and said she was 'gonna kill everybody'.

Natalia denies the allegations.

Branding her 'murderous' and a 'deceptive liar', the couple filed a motion in Indiana's Marion County Court for her case to be heard.

Michael told viewers of the documentary that the legal aim was to ‘have her age corrected to something more appropriate’, after which medical tests were conducted and she was determined by a judge to be a woman of 22 years old.

She was believed to be a six-year-old girl.

Now, having been given a new birth certificate with a new date of birth of 4 September 1989, along with a new Indiana I.D., Natalia finally feels ready to tell her side of the story in another riveting documentary.

The brand new programme - titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks and to be released in January - will see the now-34-year-old share her perspective.

"In every lie is a hidden truth, but you gotta dig enough to be able to see it," she tells viewers in a newly-released trailer.

"This is my side of the story. Do I look like a monster to you?"

Natalia will tell her story in the upcoming documentary.
Netflix

The teaser also sees her confronting Michael and breaking down in tears, telling him: "You're supposed to be my dad. You're supposed to be the one to protect me."

Natalia is then seen asking him if he feels sorry for his part in the initial documentary and urges him to admit she never threatened him with a knife.

The trailer ends with her adopted father storming out of the one-on-one interview, with Natalia telling viewers she wants 'people to pay for what they've done'.

Featured Image Credit: ID

Topics: True crime, Health, Film and TV, Documentaries

Rhianna Benson
Rhianna Benson

Rhianna is an Entertainment Journalist at LADbible Group, working across LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She has a Masters in News Journalism from the University of Salford and a Masters in Ancient History from the University of Edinburgh. She previously worked as a Celebrity Reporter for OK! and New Magazines, and as a TV Writer for Reach PLC.

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@rhiannaBjourno

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