Private detective for woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann granted legal power to make her life decisions

A private detective has gained power of attorney over a woman claiming that she's really Madeleine McCann.

Polish woman Julia Wendell recently appeared on American chat show, Dr Phil, where she made her claim of being the missing girl.

She is currently awaiting the results of a DNA test, which will tell her whether the family that raised her are her biological relatives or not.

Julia claims that she's actually Madeleine McCann, who disappeared while on holiday in Portugal back in 2007, and that she cannot remember a large amount of her childhood due to suffering trauma.

Her family have denied that she was kidnapped as a child or that she is Madeleine McCann, who would be 19 years old now.

Among the evidence that Julia claims exists to back her up are supposed missing pages from her medical records, no birth certificate, and no pictures of her mother being pregnant with her.

CBS

Appearing on Dr Phil, she was told by the host that her appearance bore some physical similarity to McCann, even though facial recognition analysis has said the chances of Julia being Madeleine McCann are almost impossible.

She appeared on Dr Phil alongside Dr Fia Johansson, a doctor of psychology and also a private detective, who recently announced that she had gained power of attorney over Julia.

This means she has the legal power to make life decisions for Julia and act on the 21-year-old's behalf.

Johansson posted the news to her Instagram stories, saying she 'legally and officially can decide Julia's living and her health and welfare', hailing it as 'good news for Julia's fans and followers'.

@persianmedium/Instagram

Julia's parents have insisted that she really is their biological daughter and part of their family, arguing that 'it's obvious that Julia isn't Maddie' and saying they were 'devastated' by what was going on.

They said: "For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughters, sister, niece, cousin and step niece.

"Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet.

"The interest won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation."

Her family also said that while Julia claims she doesn't have a birth certificate or pictures of her mother pregnant, it was actually Julia who took them, which she has denied.

She has said that even if the DNA test says she is biologically related to her parents after all, she won't be returning to them.

The DNA test results are expected back on 13 April.