LAFAYETTE, INDIANA: Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian orphan who was adopted as a toddler by an Indiana couple in 2010 but was allegedly 22 years old, is the subject of an upcoming documentary. 'The Curious Case of Natalia Grace' premieres on Monday 29 on ID.
The docuseries features exclusive interviews with Michael and Kristine Barnett, the adoptive parents who were initially accused of abandoning Grace in an apartment alone and fleeing to Canada in 2013. The parents have since claimed Grace of being a "sociopath" and "con artist" who actually is an adult with sinister intentions.
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'Natalia had reactive attachment disorder'
"Natalia had reactive attachment disorder," Micheal Barnett tells of what the first therapist told them about Grace. "It was because Natalia was born in an orphanage and never had a mother to cuddle with or depend on during her formative years," the snippet from the interview sees Barnett telling. The therapist then recommended them some practices which would fix everything.
He, as per Micheal, told them, "She needs to learn to depend on you folks for everything just like a baby would." The therapist further explained to them, "She's got to depend on you to go places." This is what the adoptive parents did as claimed by Micheal. "So we are back to carrying her everywhere," Micheal says. Then the therapist told them something strange which was to "bottle-feed her."
'We bottle-fed her for about a week'
So the adoptive parents began to bottle-feed her, but it didn't seem right. "We bottle-fed her for about a week," Micheal continues saying, "before we came to our senses this is a hundred percent not right." Even though they knew the therapist was an expert they thought she was not living what they did. "I know that's the expert, she's not living this, no."
Barnetts accused Natalia of trying to harm them and their biological children. Natalia was accused of pulling Kristine into an electric fence in an effort to poison her coffee and kill her. Natalia was also accused of sticking transparent thumbtacks face up on the steps so as to cause harm to the family, as per People.
Natalia's age was changed before the family fled to Canada
Two years after her adoption, the pair petitioned Marion County Probate Court in 2012 to modify Natalia's birth year from 2003 to 1989 and change her legal age to 22. Soon after the change, the couple fled to Canada, leaving her alone in an apartment in Lafayette. Barnetts later divorced and were eventually charged with neglect of a dependent. The prosecutors couldn't charge them with neglect of the child due to the change in age of Natalia. However, the charges were dropped in 2022 against Micheal, and in March 2023, charges against Kristina were also dropped.
