A woman who was accused of pretending to be a child to be adopted by a family has been seen for the first time in years with her new adoptive family.
Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian Orphan, first made headlines after her first adoptive parents, Michael Barnett, and his ex-wife, Kristine Barnett, claimed that she was a full-grown woman masquerading as a six-year-old child.
Michael Barnett, and his ex-wife, Kristine Barnett, from Indiana, US, adopted Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian-born dwarf, in May 2010. The couple wanted to adopt a child, so they contacted an orphanage. However, the pair claimed that when the orphanage contacted them, they were only given five minutes to meet Natalia, who looked like a 6-year-old child.
However, after bringing her home, they became suspicious of her age when she started abusing the family member and even threatened to stab their kids.
According to PEOPLE, “Natalia, who has a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal, was merely posing as a child — and was really an adult woman with sinister intentions.”
When the couple took Grace to a medical expert for a proper examination, they were informed that she was a full-grown woman who was at least 22 years old at the time.
After learning the shocking truth about her, Michael and Kristine left Natalia in an apartment in Indiana in 2013 and moved to Canada with their kids.
“The Barnetts claimed Natalia tried to harm them and their biological children. Natalia was accused of trying to poison Kristine’s coffee and kill her by dragging her towards an electric fence. Natalia was also accused of placing clear thumb tacks on the stairs face up so that they would step on them,” PEOPLE reported.
Previously in an interview with Good Morning America, Michael and Kristine revealed they feared for their life in her presence. A doctor told them she was a sociopath and a con artist, and their life was in danger.
In 2012, the pair filed a petition in the court to legally change Natalia’s age from 6 to 22, changing her birth year from 2003 to 1989. However, the following year, when they moved to Canada with their three sons, the pair (now divorced) was charged with ‘neglect of a dependent.’
During the trial, Natalia testified that she was left alone in a flat in Lafayette and didn’t want to be alone on her own.
“I wanted to be with the Barnetts,” she said in the court. “I wanted to live with them.”
However, the couple was found not guilty – ‘of three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent in 2022,’ per Associated Press.
Recently, Natalia, 22, was spotted with her new adoptive dad, Pastor Antwon Mans, selling fireworks at a supermarket in Greencastle, Indiana.
“She opted for a blue T-shirt with a yellow “Sunshine” message, a denim skirt, and chunky black shoes which help her to walk,” The Sun reported.
Natalia’s adoptive mum, 43-year-old Cynthia was also seen arriving with her kids, and at one point, the kids were seen hugging their adoptive sister and laughing with her.
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