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Father broke down with rage when reunited with adopted 'child' accused of being an adult

Home> Entertainment> TV

Updated 17:01 28 Jan 2025 GMTPublished 15:48 28 Jan 2025 GMT

Father broke down with rage when reunited with adopted 'child' accused of being an adult

Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace was accused of trying to kill her adoptive parents

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Featured Image Credit: Investigation Discovery

Topics: Documentaries, Natalia Grace, US News

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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@Anish_Vij

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The father who adopted Natalia Grace, the Ukrainian orphan who allegedly made several attempts to kill him and his wife, broke down during an awkward confrontation that saw the pair reunite.

Viewers were stunned when docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks dropped in 2023, detailing Natalia - who has a rare form of dwarfism - and her adoption story.

Husband and wife Kristine and Michael Barnett took in who they believed to be a six-year-old into their Indiana home in 2010. Then years after she was accused of being a 22-year-old, Michael sat down with Natalia to have a very awkward conversation. Watch below:

Just months after Natalia was adopted, the Barnett family claimed she was an 'adult sociopath masquerading as a child' who allegedly tried to kill them.

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"She tried to poison and kill my wife," Michael claimed, "One night, I opened my eyes and Natalia is standing at the foot of the bed with a knife in her hand."

Natalia has continuously denied all of the allegations made against her. In 2024 documentary Natalia Speaks, health testing company TruDiagnostic estimated that she was then about 22 years old, meaning she was between six and nine years old when she was adopted by the Barnetts.

In a clip which was released by Investigation Discovery last year, Natalia is seen reuniting with Michael and asking him: "Why are we here?"

"Why are we here?" responded Michael, "If you're talking philosophically."

The confrontation between Natalia Grace and her former adoptive father was very awkward (Investigation Discovery)
The confrontation between Natalia Grace and her former adoptive father was very awkward (Investigation Discovery)

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"No, I want to know, why did you adopt me in the first place?" she then asked.

"Many of these questions there's not going to be a single answer to," he told her, whilst alleging he was manipulated and mistreated by Kristine, his now ex-wife.

In the documentary, Natalia alleges that she was abused by Kristine, claiming that she pepper-sprayed her multiple times and hit her with a belt.

Kristine has denied the accusations from both Natalia and Michael.

"What do you mean by you were a victim?" Natalia asked, to which Michael replied: "This is not easy. I had the same monster you did."

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"I was exceptionally controlled and put down and threatened, was minimalised, anything that was who I was was ripped from me and I was guided and instructed to be exactly what she wanted me to be," he went on.

He stormed off set (Investigation Discovery)
He stormed off set (Investigation Discovery)

Michael seemed to be getting nowhere with his former adopted daughter and stormed out of the interview following a confrontation with people behind the camera.

"I tried, I tried," he repeated as he walked off set.

Having made headlines a couple of years ago, Natalia has provided a fresh update in season three of her docuseries, titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter.

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Natalia has now settled in with Nicole DePaul, 49, and her husband Vince, 51 - who also have dwarfism - in upstate New York. The couple tried to adopt her in 2009, but were turned down.

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