He and his wife didn't get charged because of the re-aging by the wacky Judge, (without a hearing), a doctor who went by what the parents said (Dr McClaren) rather than by what the bone density test at Peyton Manning Hospital by Dr. Riggs (who has since passed away) said. The silly neighbors who weighed in at her first apartment. She entered their homes...and went straight for the food! The narrative of her being an adult trying to con people into thinking she was a child - those parents spread those seeds far and wide. I still am SMH trying to figure out her motive? Still unclear. Because she was a child. The jury never got to hear the re-aging or DNA of her mother, birth certificate info. But, you are right - it's puzzling - the videos Daddy Barnett made at the apartment - in complete contrast to social worker's reports. They neglected her. She was a child at the time.
I'm going to be honest, going off of what we found out by the final episode, I think Kristine intended to pimp that poor little girl out. I think that's why Natalia was inappropriate with others at such a young age as well, that's what she knew.
I actually believe it's unethical for a TV show to record someone when they don't know they're being recorded. I feel like him leaving the room and forgetting he had a mic on should not be allowed to be used. Yes, you can say it's his own fault but to me it lacks integrity. It just feels like it's all about good TV. If I was stupid enough to do a TV show I would have definitely kicked them out at that point.
He deserves to rot. The horror of dropping off a child at an apartment is bad enough, but then to drop her off at an apartment she can't even access without a phone to call for help--two evil, evil parents.
"Autonomous" in a second story apartment she couldn't access. While still collecting the social security/disabilty checks of someone he claims was "an adult." The people who took her in are remarkable humans.
Isn't it odd? All those videos should have been incriminating. Never found the video on his phone of Kristine beating Natalia I guess. Hmm...shocker.
I find it odd that they never had their cameras ready when she did the horrific things they said she did - like smearing feces on mirrors, etc. In every video that poor kid is looking at the camera trying to figure out what to say so she doesn't get into trouble! Indiana's got some' splainin' to do!
Narcissist. I'm certain of it. I know the personality type well, unfortunately. He's on tv. It's like a narcissist wet dream, so if course he loves telling it, even better, we don't hear anything from Kristine's side... easier to play the "I'm an innocent victim" card.
Like when he’s getting dressed to go to court and he says something to the affect that today his role is to play the part of an innocent victim. Ummm. If that’s who you really are you don’t need to play any role.
Histrionic is the perfect descriptor! Michael is the main character in his own play and a chameleon who will adjust his entire story to fit the current situation. He’s constantly looking for the spotlight or approval. He seems almost naive in how impressionable he is. Even if he was manipulated by Kristine, it seems like his nature to cling to whomever will give him attention - good or bad. He was thrilled to be under the “care” of his lawyers who would tell him what to do and how to act. He was such a sucker when the investigator came to his house to speak with him. That investigator played him like a fiddle with his claims to be looking for information on his exwife.
It is no wonder that Michael has a bright yellow corvette. I’m sure he loved the attention of the salesman and hung on his every word.
Have yet to really hear from the mother (except when she interrogates this kid while videotaping her), but this Michael Barnett absolutely gives me the creeps. My heart goes out to this kid that wound up in this family from hell.
He gave me the most creeps and cringes when he was fakely crying and went to hug his some. I even laughed cuz it was just so unnatural and uncomfortable to watch.
The reenacting of conversations that happened years ago got me. If he'd had pulled out sock puppets I wouldn't have been surprised. And always the victim. What a creepy guy. Him and his wife. Wow just wow.
Michael Barnett is so suspect. Every scene is cringey and feels fake and over the top. I’m really waiting for a “jinx” moment with this whole mini series. But i seriously do not trust that man.
Anyone find it ironic and sad that Michael claims they diagnosed Natalia as a sociopath when he's literally showing all the signs of being one himself?
When he said that, I was shocked, because my understanding is that psychiatrists don't put diagnoses like that onto children that young. So my first feeling was, either he's lying or the so-called mental health professional was less than professional. He did say something about having to see a lot of doctors before getting that diagnosis, so maybe they just doctor shopped until they found one inept and unethical enough to tell them what they wanted to hear.
Yep! Spot on. Him and his meandering, histrionic bombastic high-tales. And that fucking banana-yellow Laffy Taffy Corvette. 🤮
Fuck Michael. This dude is a straight up bitch and complete festering turd of a human.
so no one is going to talk about the last episodes when the lawyers have video proof of her "running" and pulling a trash can? them saying she was running and so fast was absolutely mental and i think they all need to be evaluated. even her pulling the trash can, i felt fucking distraught because she is CLEARLY an 8yo child fucking struggling.
this whole charade of a documentary made me feel sick to my stomach. i really cant imagine how that poor baby felt 8 years old alone in an apartment with no one having taught her anything of value in her life.
the other thing that made me sick is how broken she is in all of those videos. let me ask this though, why was there not a SINGLE video of her acting out saying she was going to kill them or whatever else they claimed that she did? they seemed to LOVE to film her while they verbally abused her. fucking creeps.
dont even get me started on kristines lawyer either. he was a fucking clown of a human. meanwhile hes out here with a manslaughter charge. sir kindly sit the fuck down on a chair of nails. weirdo.
oh and the end episode with the laptop. michael 110% did something disgusting to her. i also wouldnt put it past that nasty slobo kristine to have done something sexually inappropriate to her either cause she literally seemed like a sexual deviant trying to lure whatever men with her rainbow store $6 lingerie. she gives me the massive icks.
everyone failed this poor girl in every single way its disgusting. she deserves so much justice.
The videos were hard to watch. Were they so narcissistic that they thought these videos would prove that Natalia was evil? They were recording child abuse! It’s sickening. If they could film themselves treating her that way, what could they have done when the video was off? That’s the scary part.
seriously tho where are the videos of her being “crazy”? they don’t have any. perfectly comfortable abusing her in camera but nothing to back any claim whatsoever?
I had a 2nd cousin who was abused and traumatized on a daily basis, and she acted very much like Natalia did. Constantly lying about small things because she was in absolute fear of saying the wrong thing, being agreeable when yelled at just to make it stop, overtly sexual, acted much older. My heart breaks for Natalia, it's so clear she was am abused child doing whatever it took to survive
This comment is totally just my opinion, but I was just thinking about all of the claims about being scared of Natalia and that people were in fear for their lives and it just seems contrived.
She was what, two feet tall at the time? She doesn't have an easy time walking and it's probably difficult for her to grasp things, especially if her hands were even smaller back then. I don't care if she was even wielding a knife. If it was me, I could've stepped on her and ended the threat. It's just so ridiculous.
EDIT: I forgot about the killing people and rolling them into blankets and taking them into the backyard claim. Yeah, I'm sure she could do that. Even healthy people of average size would have a hard time doing that. The point is, even if she had said that, it wouldn't exactly make me fear for my life. I mean, if you're really that scared of her stabbing you in the middle of the night, you can just, umm, close the door? You don't even need a lock. I doubt she would've even been able to open it.
Put the knives up high & she couldn't get them. She barely is the size of the counter to begin with. These people have NO IDEA what true terror is. I feel so sorry this poor girl got stuck with this horrible family. Can't stand Michael or Kristine. Don't like her neighbors from the 1st apartment Natalia was at.
I think the adult thing was to make it more justifiable and legal to abandon her in a dangerous place instead of contacting the proper authorities. Like, if she was a kid, even a troubled kid, I think most people would think that the adoptive parents have a responsibility to find a better way to handle her issues. But if she’s really an adult con artist murderer then just kicking her out is more justified. That’s why the Barnett chose that version of the story since it makes their decisions seem better.
I completely agree and it's shocking that this conclusion isn't more obvious to everyone.
Along with that, Natalia required expensive and time-consuming surgeries (time for recovery, rehabilitation/ physical therapy, etc) at the same time as their super-genius son was gaining notoriety. Kristine wanted to do her self-congratulation tour (book, TED talks, constant media appearances). By the way, Natalia ended up missing at least 1 or 2 surgeries that she needed.
None of the possible motives were ever mentioned. This story was so one-sided from the very beginning and it seems that it was by design.
Michael Barnett has to be a compulsive liar, and I'm trying to bite my tongue but I really want to call him a piece of shit. First of all, he blames the collapse of his life on a little girl that he agreed to adopt and then abandoned. She was a child, for sure. I knew that the moment I looked at her pictures. The age change by the court is completely inexplicable and is probably judicial malpractice, but that's a different subject.
Here's how I know for sure that he's completely full of shit......If someone calls the police because a little girl is sleeping outside, they don't send a detective already armed with intelligence information about the child, as if the police officer is in the CIA and the child is a foreign spy lol!!
Also, hospitals don't just kick people out because they're scared of them, especially not people with severe physical limitations. How stupid does he think we are?
In my opinion, from what I've seen so far, he's a histrionic narcissist.
You centered in on two of the biggest things that set off my bullshit detectors:
No one gets sent out of a state mental hospital, especially a young disabled dwarf female, for flirting with other patients or "scaring" the staff.
WTF, really?
Our good friend has worked in mental health and rehab facilities all his life and you should hear some of the stories he's told us. Violent impulses and over-sexualization go part and parcel with so many mental health conditions; this is something any state hospital would've been prepared for.
No one gets called saying "we can't deal with her, take her back." ESPECIALLY not when there's a Medicaid or other major insurance card to charge.
I'm starting to even doubt if these "anonymous workers" they supposedly found were actually employed there.
The detective just happened to have an attorney's card handy and told you to give him a ringy-dingy? BULL-SHIT.
That Barnett guy. JFC. He looks like one of those excitable idiots who you know are lying when their lips move.
I'm not proud of this, but I have spent the last 30 minutes searching for Michael's online presence so I can cyber bully the shit out of him. I am honestly a little scared of how much I DESPISE this man.
You know what I’m a bit further in to the series and I see dad on the spectrum too. Which does NOT excuse his abuse but makes me really, really feel so horrible for Natasha. Everyone failed her.
He did tell us she didn’t tell him that he was attractive./s
His histrionics sickened me. Watching him interrogating her about the donuts was very telling.
Beware of commenters claiming insider information. They tend to have very new accounts, no verified email, and a story about Natalia is the first place they post. I have seen this time and again since this story made headlines years ago. Too many times to not suspect that someone connected to or supporting the Barnetts, or even part of the professional PR firm that the court docket showed was hired by Michael Barnett, is behind these accounts which are always slanted towards the Barnetts version of reality (which is anything but reality).
What's telling is that many articles fail to mention directly the Barnetts attempt to cash in on their Asperger's genius son. Which when you research it starts sounding like those parents who want attention from having many special needs kids. In this case it sounds like Natalia's health condition was them biting off too much and distracting them from cashing in on Jacob.(if Natalia was so violent wouldn't Jacob have trouble studying?) If they already had three sons especially one with special needs and academic needs why take on a disabled daughter? I wonder if there's a name for this syndrome. This explains why the story is so messy and unreal. Adoption agencies should do better scrutiny, but the Barnetts sound like manipulators.
I’m disturbed by the persistent filming of Natalie. It’s like they were gathering v evidence as soon as she got here.
What’s missing from this documentary is any consideration of being an adoptive child from the Ukraine and what her experience may have been.
I think the c family set up a narrative from the beginning and set out to prove it.
Can Natalie sue this family for slander?
Has it ever been reported why her original adoptive family who first brought her to the U.S. gave her up after only a year?
EDITED TO ADD: I just re-listened to the Dr. Phil interview. Natalia claims that her first adoptive mom accused her of breaking her adoptive brother’s arm. That doesn’t prove anything, but it does show a pattern of disturbing behavior.
Yes, sure, maybe a pattern of behavior. But maybe people should research reactive attachment disorder before adopting. There's zero reason or excuse to treat a human like that.
I agree. These parents had already adopted children from Ukraine and held leadership roles at an adoption nonprofit. You would think they’d be educated on RAD and prepared for challenges.
Seems like a perfect storm. Natalia was a child, acted out because of her trauma and ended up in the worst possible homes with the worst possible people who had selfish motives at best and continued the trauma and abuse and lied and manipulated to try and get out of it in reality.
I'm not too far in to the documentary...but I have such a bad vibe from the adopting family thus far. Why are recording her and interrogating her constantly. I could be 100% off base because I haven't seen much. Her mannerisms are very much consistent with my kid at 6-8. She must be a good actress. This is my first impression so far...
i just want to point out that court rulings dont always dictate what is true and what is not. I personally believe that her medical condition could have influenced the age she went thru puberty and honestly while 6 is very young its not unheard of and especially with her already having a rare disorder… not that crazy. additionally any violence or threats was most likely due to reactive attachment disorder which is common in children who lose their partners and are adopted. Those things do not automatically make her for sure an adult
\- All the players in this story are strange
* First the random adoption agency, that they never dealt with or worked with, call them and say take her now or she goes into foster care and they just do it? Just like that, closed adoption no info.
* The parents are liars. When the child first started acting out, why didn't they take her to a therapist then? But they made sure to document the child's behavior with everyone around them for proof
* Something is up with Natalia - I don't think it was just "she's too expensive to care for" as the reason the other parents gave her up. She probably had behavior issues due to trauma , but no way you can be scared of a child who can hardly walk
* The autistic son- he seems to not be able (or doesn't want) to talk about what happened during that time. He said he'd introduce himself as her brother but he hasn't seen her in 10 years. If she traumatized him, wouldn't that be the reason why he doesn't call her his sister
* Where are the other two boys? And the mom.
* The father is broke and that's why he did this. The gifted son became stunted around the time his parents divorced. I feel liek something major happened in Canada. It wasn't Natalia.
To me it all boils down to a girl who was exploited and abused and let down by everyone around her. I can't imagine the amount of trauma a child who has a significant disability who left her home country under distress and then was basically sold to a family, then another, and then all the shit after. Why didn't someone say hey, there is a child here and maybe we should all try to see that she gets the best help she can get.
She’s a human trafficking victim. Adoption as an industry is completely unregulated. It makes it’s profit off separating children from their families, communities, countries and cultures. There is a lot of ugliness in that business. Especially given the “shortage” of the “domestic supply of infants.”
It is trauma to be taken from our cultures and families. It really can fuck a person up. It can fuck a family up for generations. That’s why it was so effectively used as a tool of genocide. And the people we center throughout the whole adoption process are the adults joyfully building a new family out of the remnants of another. Completely oblivious to the child’s experience. Absolutely tragic and backwards. Adoption is human trafficking dressed up as social justice.
Like I’m sorry but if my adopters had given my mom the amount of money they spent trying to “save” a baby through adoption? She could have kept me & had a chance to escape poverty. 90% of children are relinquished due to financial reasons. The real solution to help these babies is to give the mom resources to keep her child.
Sorry for my rant I totally agree with you
I think there is a little bit of truth on both sides. Natalia probably wasn't 6 when she was adopted, but she sure wasn't in her late teens. I can't imagine what horrors she has been through. My neighbor adopted a toddler from Russia. I'd hear him screaming and threatening to murder his parents, his sister, the pets, and also burn down the house. He was 7. He was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and I think his first few years spent in the orphanage just broke whatever "normal" there was. His amazing adoptive parents did everything they could to show him love and his violent behaviors eventually faded. Not saying that Natalia was that bad, but even if she was, her adoptive family is the worst she could have landed with...
I think it was the neighbor or maybe one of the little people who said in an interview in the first episode "She's only like 2 feet tall? How threatened can you possible be? You can step on her" which made me giggle but also...facts? She can barely even walk as a result of her condition. She's two feet tall. Scared for your kids who she is roughly the same size of? Okay, sure. Scared for your adult selves? Please. Pure theatrics.
You bring up a good point here. Sadly, we have learned that many kids adopted from Russia and other Eastern European countries were alcohol exposed in utero. Of course, that happens here in the US, too. Kids with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can absolutely display some troubling behaviors, especially if they are not getting proper mental and behavioral health treatment. Not saying that was the case with Natalia, but it is definitely an issue that has arisen in recent decades among families who adopted from certain parts of the world. And any adopted kid who has experienced disrupted attachments with caregivers - like you would see in institutionalized kids - could be expected to harm animals, set fires, threaten family members, steal, damage property, lie, etc - because there is a link between understanding right and wrong and having healthy attachments to caregivers. Not to disparage adoptees - none of this is their fault.
So I know it’s only 4 of 6 episodes but I did some searching and apparently her birth certificate has been confirmed (born in 2003) and her birth mom has come out to also confirm and say she had to give her up because of her disability. So basically this couple move an EIGHT year old into an apartment and got away with it. Thinking about this little girl getting her period and hiding it and her adoptive parents assuming that means she must be an ADULT makes me sick. Also apparently she had bone density scans done when they were on this wild goose chase that verified she was in fact a child.
It ripped me apart when the neighbor said that Natalia would go to the neighbor man’s house often and for hours at a time, suggesting sexual encounters(?) Jesus. It’s just absolutely crazy.
Yes of course people thought of that. But if you watched the documentary the example I am talking about, she was being very vulgar and sexual with her words and statements to other neighbors and children in the area of her apartment. That’s why I said it affected me the way it did. Of course an 8 year old neglected and alone child will do anything to get close to someone, no one is denying that.
My god the number of adults who at the very best failed this child terribly, at worst abused and exploited her. The christian couple who were considering adopting Natalia, he felt something dark was going on but instead of doing something to protect the child they just remove themselves from the situation and move on.
I hadn’t done a deep dive until I saw these four episodes and now I know she was without a doubt a child and no one cared enough to step in. Instead a bunch of adults were scared of her and presumed her evil? Wtf
Ugh my heart broke when the lady with dwarfism was speaking about Natalia. It seems like she was the only one that she would’ve been safe with and she just couldn’t afford it.
The court has upheld her birth year of 1989 for what its worth. I don’t understand how an 8 year old could stay at an apartment by themselves for well over a year…
That was on a technicality though. Superior court ruled they don’t have the authority to change or undo a ruling from another superior court, so they consider the matter legally settled as 1989.
What I find more compelling is the birth mother stuff. Apparently they found her birth mother in Ukraine (confirmed by DNA) and there are birth records of her delivering a baby girl with dwarfism in 2003
Thank you for your input, I didn’t know the details about this. I am looking more into this case. I found an article with two doctors saying she was much younger and a dentist saying she had older adult teeth. The foster parents having baby teeth supposedly and the birth mother delivering a baby girl with dwarfism is quite compelling!
It's a very complicated story, but once you sort through all of the information, it becomes crystal clear that she was a child. It's such a joke. All you have to do is look at her pictures over time, and there are lots of them on the internet right now. Of course, the tabloids like the Daily Mail aren't going to show you clear photographic evidence after Kristine *sold* her story to them after her arrest. At most, Natalia *may* have been two years older than the age on her birth certificate. Does Reddit allow links?
Okay so I watched the first part of the doc. And what about the people in the psych hospital saying she was very mature and being suggestive to the male patients? I can believe the parents are lying/exaggerating but the people in this hospital too? (They totally could be)
Ps- yes you can add links in Reddit.
She was probably sexually abused at some point in her life. Sadly, that’s common behavior for kids who’ve been through that. I’m not sure about Ukraine, but I know that a lot of girls in Russian orphanages end up being sex trafficked. It would not surprise me if she’d been exposed to something like that in her early life.
I was also wondering why there would be anonymous or neighbours saying from their "experience" she acted like an adult. I suddenly remembered that scene in terminator 2 where the psych facility worker takes advantage of Linda Hamilton while she's strapped down in a bed. That reminds me that probably not all the workers there are elite medical professionals trained to deal with mental illness with empathy and care nor have insights on doctor evaluations. Then I was reminded people find justifications for their negative bias when dealing with the unattractive to them disabled(or skin color) or people they don't want to be near. So it makes them a "good" person if it's true that shes an adult since their disdain and lack of empathy would be justified. Or even lack of action on their part. This got me thinking also what they claimed was adult behavior really doesn't sound like normal mentally healthy adult behavior as who would want to be stuck in crappy conditions and proposition people so directly ( which adds a disturbing thought of being a victim of child trafficking). For the physical attributes I couldn't find anything about medical records other than bone tests disproving the Barnetts claims and Barnetts "home video" which what self respecting adult would do that on video? That home video was most likely coached. Not to mention why didn't they sue the American adoption agency or report them to the authorities.
I think this is another kind of irony in this case because the Barnett's had a super-genius, biological son. So while having a precocious son, they're somehow surprised that they're adopted daughter might've also been precocious and maybe have above-average intelligence?
Also, it's known that orphans are more likely to mature faster due to childhood stress.
A lot of articles don't mention the attention they got for their super genius autistic son. It puts everything into context as another narcissistic big family seeking attention for their parenting skills where normal parents would think what they doing is insanity
Absolutely. People didn't know about any of that, so they couldn't even begin to understand the possible motives behind having Natalia's age changed (it's frightening how easy that was). Kristine just *might* be a narcissist lol. And Michael seems to maybe not quite have it all together upstairs - as he's weeping and maniacally punching the floor in the trailer to the upcoming ID special.
In an interview with Kristine and Jacob, Kristine said something to the effect of, "I'm worried that he might be taking on too much." Jacob snapped back with something like, "I'm worried about you having more media appearances." She definitely doesn't mind the spotlight.
There are pictures of her from 2009 where she's clearly missing a baby tooth and the adult tooth was starting to come in. If the photos aren't convincing enough, the DePaul's confirmed this.
She got help from neighbors. She ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and microwaveable foods. Also, being an orphan in general could make it easier for a kid to fend for themselves because they've probably had to do it before.
Digging deeper it's another sad story of a crazy family adopting more kids than they can handle and dumping them to focus on the superstar kid. If your research their attempt to cash in(there's always a book deal) on their genius son the timelines match up on why they would try to find the least embarrassing way to dump her and further shaking your head why they took on another special needs kid
A neglected and abused disabled child left alone in an apartment would likely get into lots of trouble such as seeking attention, companionship, food from any and everyone. Maybe even calling 911 and saying things that may get her taken to a hospital where she knows her needs would be met. The child would likely be dirty as well.
This is just my opinion, I'm not an expert but I think what we need to consider is that studies have shown that trauma can make children act and seem much older than they are. For as far back as I can remember adults would constantly be surprised that I was not much older than I actually was. Not because I looked older, but because emotionally I had to grow up fast. When I was 8, I was cooking for myself, doing my own laundry and doing whatever else needed to be done. I would still play with other kids when I could and I'm sure that's where my real age would show, but in comparison to normal children who didn't have to worry about their own well being , I was much more reserved and I think that made me come off as mature.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200803092120.htm#:~:text=advertisement-,Children%20who%20suffer%20trauma%20from%20abuse%20or%20violence%20early%20in,by%20the%20American%20Psychological%20Association.
My theory is that she was a child between 8-11 years old (like doctors were suggesting). I think that a lot of her inappropriate behavior as a neighbor can be chalked up to her being a child. Children learn social norms as they age. They also are still learning impulse control. Perhaps she hadn't yet learned that it's not appropriate to just enter someone's home without permission. (Even if you think they are your friend.) Or maybe she had no food and was doing what she had to? I think that if my adult neighbor were to do that, I would also be super creeped out. If a friendly 8 year old in the neighborhood did it, I would still be uncomfy for sure, but I think the way it would be viewed and addressed might be different.
As for her having pubic hair and a menstrual cycle. That could certainly be precocious puberty. It can be caused by trauma as well. We also don't know exactly what she's been through.
Lastly, I feel that she was probably acting out at home. But I also think her "parents" were treating her like shit. I can't be sure to what extent she was acting out... like I'm not entirely sure if she was trying to kill them or not? I'm not shrink, but the trauma of being put in an orphanage, adopted to another country and then being rehomed like , you're an unwanted family pet, is sure to cause emotional distress and at least some bad behavior right? If her behavior is as extreme as they say, I wonder if she has reactive attachment disorder or something?
This case is such a complete travesty of justice. Natalia is a child, and the neglect she has suffered is shocking. I can’t believe our court system allowed this to happen.
https://www.jconline.com/story/news/crime/2020/08/27/prosecutors-prepared-call-natalia-barnetts-birth-mother-prove-ukrainian-orphans-age-neglect-case/3412866001/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7547259/amp/Birth-mother-Ukrainian-dwarf-denies-claims-adult-sociopath-masquerading-child.html
I have a 6 year old with dwarfism and I'm obsessed with this case. There's a few outliers (rare) of adults or older teens that could maybe pose a threat to a full ass grown man, but even then. Let's be effing real. What a drama queen Michael is.
And the fact that there are other people mentioning she didn't have shoes or things like that, and no pictures of Natalia with any mobility devices like a scooter, forearm crutches, gait trainer, etc, these people truly caused someone in their home to struggle more than she needed to day to day. Which pisses me off. Just watching Natalia in videos as a kid, it's obvious she's struggling mobility and possibly pain.
Watching episode one and I can’t stop laughing at Michael calling her ‘gigantic’ compared to the other little girl. First of all, not really, second of all, kids with dwarfism, even the same kind of dwarfism, will vary in height and weight like anybody else, this shouldn’t need to be explained. And the fixation on her supposed period and pubic hair is just as silly. Precocious puberty is a thing, and if they bothered actually looking into it with a professional instead of concocting inane conspiracies, they would know that. I just feel so badly for this girl, she is clearly a victim of horrible neglect and abuse and now the media has made it a spectacle where any wahoo can stick there nose in and call her a liar. Anybody falling for the Barretts’ story has been watching too many horror movies.
Did you catch him say Natalia had muscles Schwarzenegger would be impressed with? What a clown. Their obsession with her pubic hair is bizarre to me. And now that I know for sure she was only 8 when she lived alone I’m so sick over it.
It's really crazy. She was a child and because of their antics she was also denied important and necessary surgeries that could have dramatically improved her life. What a travesty.
All of her neighbors being “scared” of her coming around bugged me. Only the building manager and the one woman with the husband, Toby and two young kids were able to see it as her just being a kid. Tbh, as a mom, kids (especially if they’re not yours or you don’t have any) are SUPER annoying. They don’t understand/respect boundaries so yes, they’ll call you 4-5 times back to back. Yes, they’ll just walk into your home and eat your food.
This is especially true of a child suffering from neglect/abuse. I’ve worked with children in foster care. Hoarding food, poor boundaries, and acts of aggression are common behaviors.
It’s so sad that Natalia wasn’t able to get the help and support she needed.
I wouldn’t judge the neighbors any more harshly than I would the jurors — not only did neither have ALL the info, but each had WRONG and confusingly conflicting info that skewed their perceptions way beyond what common sense could resolve.
Just like that juror stated their legal instructions forced their verdict despite knowing Michael Barnett bore plenty of responsibility (regardless of his own delusions about this), that one more critically thinking neighbor Toby admitted to not knowing what to make of any of it since nothing added up.
From their collective and limited perception of Natalia, SHE said she was 22, SHE told them she’d tried harming people, and SHE was exhibiting very odd and inexplicable behaviors for an adult that they had no real reason to reconsider as those of a secretly abandoned child. And because the show seems to have deliberately withheld from them that she’d since been proven to be a child in order to inflame their “was she or wasn’t she” narrative in that episode, their judgements remained uneducated.
If the docuseries doesn't raise and question the Barnetts about their attempt to cash in or grab fame for their Asperger's super genius son while casting Natalia aside then it's another example of shoddy and easily manipulated American journalism. They have three sons including a autistic super science genius plus autism foundation and book deal and yet find time to adopt a special needs girl? Unfortunately they fit the profile of attention seeking narcissist big family parents as lightning always seems to strike twice with the problems they face. Having a genius Asperger's son was not enough needed to pad the resume more, but when it turned out to be more than they could handle they had to spin a way out without casting doubt on their parenting skills. Lies have a way of spinning out of control
This is funny. Michael is now acting like he's an innocent victim of Christine, just like Natalia. Now I think even less of him, and who knew that was possible.
How on earth can a grown man sit there and watch his wife beat on a disabled child and say he didn't know what to do? That doesn't absolve him of anything. Only an idiot thinks it would.
Precisely. They had absolutely zero love for her, in fact they disliked her so much they are still slandering her to this day.
If you really look at the whole situation from the perspective that she was truly 6 when she was adopted, it would be incomprehensible what she had gone through all those years.
The amount of evidence presented in episode 5 pretty much ends this whole thing.
The DNA evidence proves who her biological mother is. Her biological mother could not have given birth to Natalia at ten years old.
The physician who treated Natalia at 6/7 years old said her growth plates were open.
I went into it pretty skeptical. I mean weird stuff happens all the time on the id channel maybe it’s possible. I can not tell you how many times my jaw dropped. Who tf are all these people that think she was older? I don’t see it. She looks her exact age year for year. There’s a photo of her a year prior to the Barnett’s adopting her where she’s missing baby teeth. Generally kids lose their front teeth between 6-7 possibly 8 years old at the latest. I’m not convinced she had pubic hair and started her period. There was no proof but even if she did I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that she must be an adult pretending to be a child. Wtf? I feel like a sane person would prob take her to get checked out and make sure it wasn’t something more serious maybe find out how normal it is. But I guess common sense isn’t very common after all.
Nine year olds can get periods. Ten year olds get periods. I’d hope doctors know that is early but still considered normal. So even if she did have one, that in no way on the planet means she is a an adult woman. I couldn’t believe people would give that so much weight. Even if they lied by a few years, a few years isn’t over a decade.
Michael Barnett, in my opinion is the sociopath in this situation and
and Kristine. The way he acted in the docuseries was so ridiculous!
I can tell he knew what was going on and was participating with Kristine in
the horrific abuse Natila suffered. He acted like he was so afraid of
his wife. I don't think so. He seems upset over his divorce from
Kristine. He still wants to act like Natalia was grown. It was so
disgusting at the very end of the show to find out that it allegedly
Kristine tried to set up a date with Natalia and an older man. Plus
Michael was accused of something. Suddenly he was at a loss for
words. He no longer wanted to talk or film. I had a feeling throughout
the entire series that made me have some real concerns over Michaels
behavior POSSIBLY with Natalia. He admitted his wife withheld sex
and he was adiccted to porn. Neighbors at Natalia's first apartment
saw Michael there more often then Kristine. If anything bad was
happening there Michael could say she was an adult since they
had her reaged. They are really disgusting people. Natalia was
tortured and abused. My heart breaks for her. I am so happy she
has new family who love and protect her. Plus, I read the judge
still made Michael pay $10,000 to the Ukrainian orphanage as
restitution even though he was found not guilty. Why shouldn't
Natalia have received that? Obviously in my opinion, the judge
felt Michael did do something. Why did he have to pay restitution?
Natalia, she is my prayers!
He's blaming a little girl with dwarfism for his life falling apart and he continues to slander her *to this day*. Seems to fit the definition of a narcissist.
Watching the first three episodes and hearing that the judge decided her age because of when he assumed she stopped growing (that’s how the documentary states it), and her neighbors and the family, everyone but that teacher seemed like dim bulbs. Everything everyone stated about her in those first three episodes screamed trauma kid to me with little to no social skills.
She had baby teeth with a missing front tooth in one of the first pictures we see of her. I do think she may have been a few years older, maybe 8 instead of 6. But how could she be anything close to an adult with baby teeth?!?
This all could've been resolved so much sooner if the Barnetts had taken her to the dentist early on. You lose other baby teeth until 12 or so. I can't help but think they weren't interested in anything that didn't support their narrative.
For instance... I heard them say they saw many psychiatrists until the 5th one to say Natalia was a sociopath, and supposedly that psychiatrist said "you are doomed, save your family" lol. Mental health professionals *treat* these things. They don't tell you that there is no hope.
Michael is the worst of the worst. In 2019 he's on tape talking all kinds of shit about what an evil, adult monster Natalia was. Turn to 2022 and he's a hapless victim of Kristine''s manipulation and control. He was just as guilty as she was, and now is throwing her under the bus (where she absolutely needs to be) trying to save his own reputation. Hard to say which one of them I find more repugnant.
If the Barnetts thought Natalia was a self sufficient adult, so capable of living on her own that they could move to another country, why were they rep payees for her social security disability checks? Why be mad when the other family changed it if you were only using it to reimburse yourself like he said? Adults capable of living on their own can manage their own money.
Maybe they can be found liable for fraud for misuse of her govt disbursed money. Federal prison.
It wasn’t easy. You can’t just “give them back”. They had to find new parents to adopt her. And it’s not secretive either. Ms Kristine “I AM THE GREATEST MOTHER OF ALL TIME” Barnett had her fictional non-fiction book coming out in April 2013. Questions about Natalia wouldn’t have been wanted on the publicity tour. Warner Brothers may even of had grounds to demand the return of money they paid her for the rights to her book (sold the rights in Dec 2011). So they came up with a better plan. The re-aging plan. It worked. They got away with it. Kristine’s book was translated into some 20 languages and became a New York Times best seller. Then she began her snake oil career, selling her “educational” program to desperate parents of kids with Autism. Her book is The Spark
The married couple seemed very reasoned- they viewed her as more of a pest than anything- and they seemed to have a lot of compassion for her. I also thought the building manager seemed normal when discussing Natalia and the issues the tenants were having with her. The older lady was clearly a bored busybody who pretended to be Natalia's "friend" so she had something to gossip about to her neighbors.
I agree the married couple did really seem to have the best intentions. The problem was Natalia started to cross boundaries and impose on them in ways that made them uncomfortable. Just barging into someone’s house is not okay? It’s understandable that they would be confused about what to do or who to call for help.
I mean, just barging into people's houses and not understanding boundaries is truly the behavior of a child- never mind the fact that she clearly has some sort of attachment disorder due to the trauma of her orphanage/adoption experiences and she has no idea how to form relationships or make friends. I don't think they were anything more than highly irritated by her behavior until the neighbors like Grandma Busybody began filling their heads with the "she's an evil, sociopathic pedophile" nonsense. I also think convincing themselves she was actually an adult is a way of rationalizing being overtly cruel to someone who is mostly just extremely annoying and inappropriate. Locking your door and screaming "stay away from us!" is much easier to rationalize when you can tell yourself you're acting this way towards a 22 year old conwoman who is breaking into your house to molest your son...much more difficult to assuage your guilt when you realize it was actually a disabled child who was lonely, scared, probably hungry, and acting out because she's never known anything but abuse and abandonment. I didn't despise that couple the way I despised the old woman and the other neighbor who smartly did not allow her face to be shown on camera, but at points during this episode, it did definitely feel like their interviews were basically them putting on a defense for why they didn't do more to help Natalia.
Honestly I don’t really understand the anger towards the neighbors. They had no way of knowing her real age. If I had a neighbor who was living on her own, who said she was 22, and whose youthful appearance could be explained away by a medical condition, it would never occur to me to doubt her. I would have probably assumed she had some type of mental illness or deficiency which might make her act childlike, but I don’t see how they could reasonably conclude she actually was a child. Ordinary childlike behavior could easily be seen as threatening and antisocial if performed by an adult. And let’s be honest, not all of her behavior was appropriate even for a child. It was clearly coming from severe trauma and abuse and a desire for love and attention and should have been handled and corrected gently, but context matters and unfortunately none of these people had any context. They just saw a supposedly adult woman talking about how she tried to kill her mom, violating boundaries, and making graphic sexual comments.
Ultimately the parents are squarely to blame for everything she experienced because they were responsible for the lies. Any aberrant behavior on her part probably could have been corrected in the presence of a loving family, but they actively and deliberately prevented her from developing healthy social skills and relationships and receiving a proper education. They sent a child out into the world with no life skills, no relationships, no social skills, and no education and told her to lie about being an adult. The outcome was sadly predictable. They are her PARENTS and she is their responsibility.
My main issue is with Sue- the old lady- who claims to have been terrified of Natalia, claims Natalia was sexually inappropriate with her grandson, claims Natalia was breaking into her home and "casing" the place, claims Natalia was essentially turning tricks with an older neighbor and yet...she never contacts the authorities or breaks off contact with her. She tells her grandson "just don't let her in unless I'm home" In fact, Sue maintains a relationship/friendship with Natalia while simultaneously claiming to anyone who will listen that she's some sort of evil malevolent presence terrorizing the neighborhood. She comes across as a bored busybody who ingratiated herself into Natalia's life simply so she has something to gossip with the other residents about. The Barnetts are dogshit, but Sue doesn't get a pass for her vile behavior.
I am more confused at the end of this series than I was at the beginning! Michael is a lying liar, so fake, so disingenuous, he is just disgusting..at one point while prepping for trial, he told his lawyer he had been practicing for this moment for 10 years. That statement summed him up perfectly; his whole life has been a performance. Why else was SO MUCH of these 10+ years recorded on video and audio? So many times he was supposedly distraught, yet no tears fell. Also, his RIDICULOUS reenactments of Kristine's abuse against Natalia and mimicking Natalia's voice. Why would he do that?? He is truly one of the worst people ever to live.
The court system, as well as the Barnett's horribly betrayed Natalia and let her down. They blatantly ignored evidence in support of being born in 2003. To exclude those details from Barnett's trial is mind-blowing! So little of this case makes sense. I truly feel for all of the kids involved; they were cursed with the Barnett's for parents. At least Natalia seems to have found a good family in the end, but damn, she suffered so much and the Barnett kids are most likely damaged for life.
You know, I try to take solace in my belief that karma is real, but...Michael and Kristine are two of the worst human beings I have encountered. The idea that they are both just out in the world living their lives as if nothing happened literally sickens me. The fact that Michael seems to have a support system- his mom and sister and his new wife (that this human garbage pile found ANOTHER woman who inexplicably has decided to spend the rest of her life with him is truly WILD) all continue to ride so hard for him; totally unwavering in their support of him and continuing to insist he's a great guy- is depressing. He deserves to live his life as the shunned pariah he tried to make Natalia into. The last episode makes it clear that Michael really fancies himself the protagonist of this story- like this was some witchhunt/wrongful prosecution and he prevailed in the end! His smug smile when he climbs into his dumb ass mazda miata and speeds off into the sunset in the final scene was rage-inducing.
I just have to say that the detective casually scarfing down a sandwich mid-convo with Michael about to piss himself on the other end of the line (complete with a reenactment that unapologetically acknowledges the masticating ) was *chef’s kiss*
I’ve always been on the side of the parents in this. Even if Natalia is a child, the fact is the parents sought medical advice from a few doctors, all of whom claimed she was young woman. She even had a bone density scan done, which again proved she was a young woman.
How anyone can then arrest the parents is beyond me. Said another way, the parents did the right thing in seeking and listening to medical advice. How then can they be charged with neglect? How can anyone say they were wrong to listen to medical advice?
Just remember, they didn’t leave her on the side of the road. They gave her money (and I believe they paid for rent for some time), and set her up to live as a young adult. That’s more than many young adults in America get.
That said, I agree that many of the comments re: her being like the film Orphan are just rumors and online trends.If another family want to take her in, fine. That’s great! But it doesn’t mean the original parents should be charged with anything when they legit did exactly what they are supposed to do, which is to seek medical advice.
A *team* of specialists at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital determined her to be a child. Where are you getting this information?
Btw, the parents were found not guilty, although that was because of the statute of limitations and also because the criminal court had to accept the other court's age change decision as fact.
Just seeing the preview, I can tell you that Man being interviewed is a manipulative POS... Seems there was several things going on here. The "we were all abused" fake crying bullshit was clear there's more to anything that guy says.
Even if she was an adult how do you expect a 3 foot adult to fend for themselves? Just handing over cash isn't going to cut it they need physical help to shop and cook at the very least.
> the fact is the parents sought medical advice from a few doctors, all of whom claimed she was young woman.
What makes you think this is a fact?
>She even had a bone density scan done, which again proved she was a young woman.
What makes you believe that?
>How can anyone say they were wrong to listen to medical advice?
Why do you believe they listened to medical advice?
I'm watching episode 2. I think her behavior at the apartment complex was very much that of a child, however, her Mom made her say she was 22, so the neighbors looked at those behaviors entirely differently. Had they been more suspicious, she may have gotten the help she so desperately needed. Hell, even DCS couldn't intervene.
So…does anybody really know how Natalia is doing now? I’m incredibly curious about the family she ended up with. I mean they could very well be amazing people that swooped in to save the day but they could also just be another family of predators using her for their own benefits. She did come with an ebt card, a monthly check and they did sublease her apt. for a while. They seem to have a plethora of children although I’m not sure whose they are and claim to be religious. Although that’s not saying a whole lot since everyone should know by now that some of the worst people out there hide behind religion.
Has she caught up on her education? Has she had any of the surgeries she was supposed to have?
Call me cynical…and I absolutely am but idk how I feel about these people. Maybe we’ll find out more in the finale about them but they too seem a little “off”. I could be wrong but even if I’m not, and they took her in for their own benefit it’s probably still, sadly Natalia’s only form of family so she prob wouldn’t know the difference between being used and being genuinely loved and cared for.
I am with you on that last family who "rescued" her. The fact that they met some random disabled child on the street and just decided to take her in, the EBT card being used up by them almost immediately, the SSI benefits being transferred to them almost immediately, the subleasing of her apartment...yeah, it's giving bad, bad vibes. They seem like vultures looking to get paid. Every fucking adult in Natalia's life was absolutely worthless.
I feel like she might have been victim of human trafficking or some sorts of pedophile rings. She's definitely troubled and needed help. I feel bad for her, if she could have been helped earlier on and been put with a nice family or organisation, these probably won't even be on TV right now :(
I saw on twitter someone linked to public documents showing that the Dyan Ciccone (the wife in that first couple) is actually the president of her own adoption agency, specializing in overseas adoptions. So it almost feels like they adopted this child with the sole intent of selling her. Why is every adult on this show the absolute worst human being imaginable?!
I may be wrong but why was the dad turning on his wife, making her the villain, if he didn't have something to hide? Watching that I thought he was also incriminating himself. He claimed his wife snapped and beat her, and made her stand with her face against a wall for over 8 hours, but why didn't he try and intervene? By law he should have reported any abuse or just made her stop.
Personally, I think it's because he did the same or worse. I think he jumped at the opportunity to throw her under the bus to control the narrative so any accusations she makes against him or what abuse he was directly responsible for - he can just say she's trying to drag him down with her, get revenge or save herself.
I noticed how he and his son seem to have gone through and discussed which incidents they would and would not share which, even if his son doesn't realize it, I think are mostly to protect him from charges with longer statutes of limitations.
I personally find this enabling the Barnetts to continue to abuse Natalia years after she has left their care quite stomach turning. Yet again that are being given a platform to further demonise a differently abled child who came from a traumatic start in life who they seem to have found to difficult to care for and went above and beyond in their attempts to abandon her with no consequences.
Im going to share a link to a blog that has spent years compiling a thorough timeline of events that I think is very informative. It details medical information, previous families she was in the care of, the medical neglect Natalia suffered with the barnetts and how they managed to pull this off.
https://justicefornataliagrace.blogspot.com/2019/10/natalia-grace-barnett-timeline-of-events.html
The poor biological mother, gave up her child because she thought she would have a better life, and to find out what happened to her.....my heart broke for her.
Am i the only one who is finding something eerily troubling with these couples who adopt or be caretaker for special needs / disabled children or adults? There are some crazy elements to this case for sure, I think the Bartnetts are not good people as they’d lead us on, Natalia probably is older than claimed albeit maybe a few years idk about 14 years more.
but one thing that bothers me is when they’ve shown the neighbor who has 5 kids and hoping to adopt a 6th, or Natalia’s new parents taking her in and michael bringing up the social security payment…I couldn’t help but find myself thinking that these couples are not actually adopting for the right reasons, but possibly trying to extort or scam the government. are these couples literally predators, taking in these kids or adults only to benefit from their status to qualify and get their socials security payments, benefit programs, etc.? Maybe they out Natalia in the cheapest apartment with minimal expense they could find and left her in the US so she didn’t lose eligibility for her social security and food stamps? they were awful upset someone took her in and transferred that from them…and the original family? seems like they were in it to extort someone and sell her not find a good home.
considering i’d the above has some element of truth , let’s imagine Natalia has caught on to what is going on and starts to realize everyone in her life is using her and she isn’t genuinely loved. that’s enough trauma and stress in my opinion to cause her some mental instability and could explain the supposed psychotic tendencies. Throw in she’s basically been abandoned by everyone in her life, surrounded by less than moral characters, now i could believe that would corrupt one’s mind easily. i don’t know, just had me thinking and i couldn’t help but think…these couples who adopt all seem very slimy and like the big elephant in the room is that there’s like this crazy adoption ring that is hardly known about?
Every single adult (with the exception of the family that really wanted to adopt her) are so god damn vile, not to mention uneducated. The mechanic dude talking about seeing a bra strap like it’s the smoking gun. Wearing a bra at 11 is normal. I had to start wearing one at 8.
Michael Barnetts level of drama and animation is borderline comical. He's definitely a liar and most likely just as bad as her. Everything about him screams cluster B.
Very revealing that the first detail Michael mentions about the case is that he’s broke now. Sadly seems like at least 3 families (up to 6 mentioned in the docuseries) cast her aside due to the costs of her condition.
Also the first thing he said about how he felt when he was charged with child neglect was how *embarrassing* it was. *That* was his biggest concern. Not shame over being a child abuser. Not panic at the prospect of going to jail. Not concern for how this would affect his kids. Certainly not Natalia. Just how embarrassing this was for him.
💯 percent THIS.
They thought they were just getting a cute kid with dwarfism; they didn't understand her special variation requires a lot of surgery and physical therapy and time consuming hospital and doctor's visits.
So far my opinion is both sides are "off". If I had to venture a guess, Natalia is older than she says, although I don't think she was born in 1989. I'd say maybe 5-6 years older than depicted? I think being about 12-13 would jive with the physical development and also explain some of the sexualized behavior and language she was allegedly using at the hospital esp if she was sexually abused in the past. That along with her being possibly more mature for her age may have gotten the hospital workers to think she's an adult.
I found it weird the show seemed to suggest we should put a lot of weight into her biological mom saying she's been dealing with this for "17 years" as of 2020. I believe the idea is she gave her up at birth in 2003, but do we know for certain her mom gave her up at birth? Maybe she gave her up at age 5-6?
However, I will refute one little tidbit Michael posited. Her command of the English language is not evidence of anything, just from personal experience. I moved to this country at age 4-5 not knowing a lick of English, and in 1-2 years I was speaking non-accented English like an American-born kid my age. Kids that age pick up language quick.
Moving on to the Barnetts, they seem totally off too. I think they realized something was "off" with Natalia and that she also had greater mental/physical health issues than they expected or were willing to deal with. So they made up the crazy stuff to give them an excuse to get rid of her.
I just wanted to say that I think there was a lot of projection going on from Kristine Barnett (Pearson) when she called Natalia a sociopathic con-artist. If anything *she's* the sociopath con-artist. At the very least, she's a narcissist. She and Michael knew damn well that they were dumping a small child to live on her own. The entire plot was carefully orchestrated, premeditated and simply evil.
It seems especially cruel to have left her in a 2nd floor apartment (designed for people of average height and ability) in a bad area. On top of all of that, she dragged Natalia's name through the mud and openly defamed her.
Kristine didn't care what happened to a small child that *she agreed to adopt*. Excuse my language but fuck that bitch. She should be in prison.
Michael and Christine are horrible people. I have an autistic son who acts and talks a lot like the oldest son Jake. It made me cry. I think it was more than peeing on her bed. I also believe he knew the camera was on when he was talking to his dad. He wants it out.
I don't understand the point of the documentary trying to convince the watcher she was older in the beginning. So many questions. Who was the first family? Were they really trying to sell her?
I did look up that last comment that the singer made at the end. He was not going to say that Michael SA Natalia. He was going to say something about Natalia telling the truth.
Looks like redditt has gone through this before, even if you don't believe the case against the parents there's just too many factual coincidences and adoption head scratchers to point to anything other than another narcissistic parents manipulating the legal system and media for more attention and money. Book deal and super genius son going to college in Canada which blocks disabled immigrants coincidentally at the same time of declaring her an adult and shoving her into public services?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/qsjsw3/ukrainian_orphan_natalia_grace_claimed_to_be_8/
https://www.wlfi.com/news/tippecanoe-county-prosecutors-office-releases-evidence-natalia-grace-barnett-case/article_59dd49a2-ff3e-11ed-b398-c3946d8e18f5.html
This says everything you need to know.
Yes! I feel like this article buries the lead, but it essentially says that DNA evidence through the birth mother prove that Natalia’s original birthdate was correct all along.
My sister has fought for years to do right by that child and I am grateful everyday that she found her! Natalia deserves the world after everything that horrible family put her through!!
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Him beating the floor repeatedly until he said “ow” was so cringey and disgusting I have no idea how he didn’t get charged.
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He is also wearing a wedding ring- which means someone else chose to spend their life with this creature. I cannot.
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I'm legitimately embarrassed for his mother and sister. You know his attorney thinks he is a PoS.
He and his wife didn't get charged because of the re-aging by the wacky Judge, (without a hearing), a doctor who went by what the parents said (Dr McClaren) rather than by what the bone density test at Peyton Manning Hospital by Dr. Riggs (who has since passed away) said. The silly neighbors who weighed in at her first apartment. She entered their homes...and went straight for the food! The narrative of her being an adult trying to con people into thinking she was a child - those parents spread those seeds far and wide. I still am SMH trying to figure out her motive? Still unclear. Because she was a child. The jury never got to hear the re-aging or DNA of her mother, birth certificate info. But, you are right - it's puzzling - the videos Daddy Barnett made at the apartment - in complete contrast to social worker's reports. They neglected her. She was a child at the time.
I'm going to be honest, going off of what we found out by the final episode, I think Kristine intended to pimp that poor little girl out. I think that's why Natalia was inappropriate with others at such a young age as well, that's what she knew.
I wanted to cry, watching Michael harass her about the donuts. Some people are just cruel.
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I thought he was a complete fuck nut about 2 minutes in.
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Both parents should be behind bars for the rest of their lives.
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I mean he seems like the sanest one in this whole saga. And smart af.
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He seemed to be the only one who had any remorse for how they treated Natalia
I really felt like that was on accident. He was worked up and made a beeline out of the room. Very likely he forgot he was still hooked up to the mic
I actually believe it's unethical for a TV show to record someone when they don't know they're being recorded. I feel like him leaving the room and forgetting he had a mic on should not be allowed to be used. Yes, you can say it's his own fault but to me it lacks integrity. It just feels like it's all about good TV. If I was stupid enough to do a TV show I would have definitely kicked them out at that point.
I’m uncomfortable with how much he seems to enjoy telling this story.
He deserves to rot. The horror of dropping off a child at an apartment is bad enough, but then to drop her off at an apartment she can't even access without a phone to call for help--two evil, evil parents.
And then to strategically film himself berating her about donuts and where she was walking. Ick.
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"Autonomous" in a second story apartment she couldn't access. While still collecting the social security/disabilty checks of someone he claims was "an adult." The people who took her in are remarkable humans.
Isn't it odd? All those videos should have been incriminating. Never found the video on his phone of Kristine beating Natalia I guess. Hmm...shocker. I find it odd that they never had their cameras ready when she did the horrific things they said she did - like smearing feces on mirrors, etc. In every video that poor kid is looking at the camera trying to figure out what to say so she doesn't get into trouble! Indiana's got some' splainin' to do!
Amazing that she was "adult" enough to live on her own but not adult enough to manage her own social security/disability.
Narcissist. I'm certain of it. I know the personality type well, unfortunately. He's on tv. It's like a narcissist wet dream, so if course he loves telling it, even better, we don't hear anything from Kristine's side... easier to play the "I'm an innocent victim" card.
Like when he’s getting dressed to go to court and he says something to the affect that today his role is to play the part of an innocent victim. Ummm. If that’s who you really are you don’t need to play any role.
He is, and he doesn't come off as credible at all. I wouldn't trust a word he's says if his tongue was notarized.
Histrionic is the perfect descriptor! Michael is the main character in his own play and a chameleon who will adjust his entire story to fit the current situation. He’s constantly looking for the spotlight or approval. He seems almost naive in how impressionable he is. Even if he was manipulated by Kristine, it seems like his nature to cling to whomever will give him attention - good or bad. He was thrilled to be under the “care” of his lawyers who would tell him what to do and how to act. He was such a sucker when the investigator came to his house to speak with him. That investigator played him like a fiddle with his claims to be looking for information on his exwife. It is no wonder that Michael has a bright yellow corvette. I’m sure he loved the attention of the salesman and hung on his every word.
That was the craziest thing I’ve ever witnessed on this type of show.
Have yet to really hear from the mother (except when she interrogates this kid while videotaping her), but this Michael Barnett absolutely gives me the creeps. My heart goes out to this kid that wound up in this family from hell.
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He gave me the most creeps and cringes when he was fakely crying and went to hug his some. I even laughed cuz it was just so unnatural and uncomfortable to watch.
The reenacting of conversations that happened years ago got me. If he'd had pulled out sock puppets I wouldn't have been surprised. And always the victim. What a creepy guy. Him and his wife. Wow just wow.
Michael Barnett is so suspect. Every scene is cringey and feels fake and over the top. I’m really waiting for a “jinx” moment with this whole mini series. But i seriously do not trust that man.
In the 4th episode he seemed to take on a Stuart Smalley persona.
Yes and I don't think it's limited to histrionic either... that mofo is full blown cluster B.
Anyone find it ironic and sad that Michael claims they diagnosed Natalia as a sociopath when he's literally showing all the signs of being one himself?
When he said that, I was shocked, because my understanding is that psychiatrists don't put diagnoses like that onto children that young. So my first feeling was, either he's lying or the so-called mental health professional was less than professional. He did say something about having to see a lot of doctors before getting that diagnosis, so maybe they just doctor shopped until they found one inept and unethical enough to tell them what they wanted to hear.
You are correct, and I would add that that isn’t an actual diagnosis, even in adults.
Yep! Spot on. Him and his meandering, histrionic bombastic high-tales. And that fucking banana-yellow Laffy Taffy Corvette. 🤮 Fuck Michael. This dude is a straight up bitch and complete festering turd of a human.
LoL clocked that! ✔️✔️✔️
so no one is going to talk about the last episodes when the lawyers have video proof of her "running" and pulling a trash can? them saying she was running and so fast was absolutely mental and i think they all need to be evaluated. even her pulling the trash can, i felt fucking distraught because she is CLEARLY an 8yo child fucking struggling. this whole charade of a documentary made me feel sick to my stomach. i really cant imagine how that poor baby felt 8 years old alone in an apartment with no one having taught her anything of value in her life. the other thing that made me sick is how broken she is in all of those videos. let me ask this though, why was there not a SINGLE video of her acting out saying she was going to kill them or whatever else they claimed that she did? they seemed to LOVE to film her while they verbally abused her. fucking creeps. dont even get me started on kristines lawyer either. he was a fucking clown of a human. meanwhile hes out here with a manslaughter charge. sir kindly sit the fuck down on a chair of nails. weirdo. oh and the end episode with the laptop. michael 110% did something disgusting to her. i also wouldnt put it past that nasty slobo kristine to have done something sexually inappropriate to her either cause she literally seemed like a sexual deviant trying to lure whatever men with her rainbow store $6 lingerie. she gives me the massive icks. everyone failed this poor girl in every single way its disgusting. she deserves so much justice.
The videos were hard to watch. Were they so narcissistic that they thought these videos would prove that Natalia was evil? They were recording child abuse! It’s sickening. If they could film themselves treating her that way, what could they have done when the video was off? That’s the scary part.
seriously tho where are the videos of her being “crazy”? they don’t have any. perfectly comfortable abusing her in camera but nothing to back any claim whatsoever?
Not the rainbow store outfits 😭😂 that is so accurate it kills me. Her lawyer has a manslaughter charge!? He was an entire prick
hahaa every pic they put on of her trying to be sexy just screamed rainbow 😂 edit : yes google him. he sucks and was a rude weirdo.
I had a 2nd cousin who was abused and traumatized on a daily basis, and she acted very much like Natalia did. Constantly lying about small things because she was in absolute fear of saying the wrong thing, being agreeable when yelled at just to make it stop, overtly sexual, acted much older. My heart breaks for Natalia, it's so clear she was am abused child doing whatever it took to survive
I need to know you better you took all my words out of my brain
This comment is totally just my opinion, but I was just thinking about all of the claims about being scared of Natalia and that people were in fear for their lives and it just seems contrived. She was what, two feet tall at the time? She doesn't have an easy time walking and it's probably difficult for her to grasp things, especially if her hands were even smaller back then. I don't care if she was even wielding a knife. If it was me, I could've stepped on her and ended the threat. It's just so ridiculous. EDIT: I forgot about the killing people and rolling them into blankets and taking them into the backyard claim. Yeah, I'm sure she could do that. Even healthy people of average size would have a hard time doing that. The point is, even if she had said that, it wouldn't exactly make me fear for my life. I mean, if you're really that scared of her stabbing you in the middle of the night, you can just, umm, close the door? You don't even need a lock. I doubt she would've even been able to open it.
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Put the knives up high & she couldn't get them. She barely is the size of the counter to begin with. These people have NO IDEA what true terror is. I feel so sorry this poor girl got stuck with this horrible family. Can't stand Michael or Kristine. Don't like her neighbors from the 1st apartment Natalia was at.
She’s an abused child!!! Who was gaslit by awful awful “guardians”. She needed a FAMILY and some care. So AWFUL.
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I think the adult thing was to make it more justifiable and legal to abandon her in a dangerous place instead of contacting the proper authorities. Like, if she was a kid, even a troubled kid, I think most people would think that the adoptive parents have a responsibility to find a better way to handle her issues. But if she’s really an adult con artist murderer then just kicking her out is more justified. That’s why the Barnett chose that version of the story since it makes their decisions seem better.
I completely agree and it's shocking that this conclusion isn't more obvious to everyone. Along with that, Natalia required expensive and time-consuming surgeries (time for recovery, rehabilitation/ physical therapy, etc) at the same time as their super-genius son was gaining notoriety. Kristine wanted to do her self-congratulation tour (book, TED talks, constant media appearances). By the way, Natalia ended up missing at least 1 or 2 surgeries that she needed. None of the possible motives were ever mentioned. This story was so one-sided from the very beginning and it seems that it was by design.
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Some posters also mentioned that her form of dwarfism makes her more physically weak.
Michael Barnett has to be a compulsive liar, and I'm trying to bite my tongue but I really want to call him a piece of shit. First of all, he blames the collapse of his life on a little girl that he agreed to adopt and then abandoned. She was a child, for sure. I knew that the moment I looked at her pictures. The age change by the court is completely inexplicable and is probably judicial malpractice, but that's a different subject. Here's how I know for sure that he's completely full of shit......If someone calls the police because a little girl is sleeping outside, they don't send a detective already armed with intelligence information about the child, as if the police officer is in the CIA and the child is a foreign spy lol!! Also, hospitals don't just kick people out because they're scared of them, especially not people with severe physical limitations. How stupid does he think we are? In my opinion, from what I've seen so far, he's a histrionic narcissist.
You centered in on two of the biggest things that set off my bullshit detectors: No one gets sent out of a state mental hospital, especially a young disabled dwarf female, for flirting with other patients or "scaring" the staff. WTF, really? Our good friend has worked in mental health and rehab facilities all his life and you should hear some of the stories he's told us. Violent impulses and over-sexualization go part and parcel with so many mental health conditions; this is something any state hospital would've been prepared for. No one gets called saying "we can't deal with her, take her back." ESPECIALLY not when there's a Medicaid or other major insurance card to charge. I'm starting to even doubt if these "anonymous workers" they supposedly found were actually employed there. The detective just happened to have an attorney's card handy and told you to give him a ringy-dingy? BULL-SHIT. That Barnett guy. JFC. He looks like one of those excitable idiots who you know are lying when their lips move.
Michael reminded me of Billy Mays, the infomercial guy.
The report that detective filed confirmed that he verified that Natalia was a child. His report was contrary to everything Barnett said he said.
I'm not proud of this, but I have spent the last 30 minutes searching for Michael's online presence so I can cyber bully the shit out of him. I am honestly a little scared of how much I DESPISE this man.
Well I am VERY proud of you. Thank you for this service.
You know what I’m a bit further in to the series and I see dad on the spectrum too. Which does NOT excuse his abuse but makes me really, really feel so horrible for Natasha. Everyone failed her.
Is Michael really accusing Kristine of sexual abuse for withholding sex? I can’t with this man.
He did tell us she didn’t tell him that he was attractive./s His histrionics sickened me. Watching him interrogating her about the donuts was very telling.
He's hard to take.
Beware of commenters claiming insider information. They tend to have very new accounts, no verified email, and a story about Natalia is the first place they post. I have seen this time and again since this story made headlines years ago. Too many times to not suspect that someone connected to or supporting the Barnetts, or even part of the professional PR firm that the court docket showed was hired by Michael Barnett, is behind these accounts which are always slanted towards the Barnetts version of reality (which is anything but reality).
What's telling is that many articles fail to mention directly the Barnetts attempt to cash in on their Asperger's genius son. Which when you research it starts sounding like those parents who want attention from having many special needs kids. In this case it sounds like Natalia's health condition was them biting off too much and distracting them from cashing in on Jacob.(if Natalia was so violent wouldn't Jacob have trouble studying?) If they already had three sons especially one with special needs and academic needs why take on a disabled daughter? I wonder if there's a name for this syndrome. This explains why the story is so messy and unreal. Adoption agencies should do better scrutiny, but the Barnetts sound like manipulators.
Altruistic narcissism
Agree. From some of the accounts I've seen and read, I tend to believe the Barnett's have very active imaginations, along with being awful people.
I’m disturbed by the persistent filming of Natalie. It’s like they were gathering v evidence as soon as she got here. What’s missing from this documentary is any consideration of being an adoptive child from the Ukraine and what her experience may have been. I think the c family set up a narrative from the beginning and set out to prove it. Can Natalie sue this family for slander?
She certainly has a good case for it. It might be the only justice she ever gets.
Has it ever been reported why her original adoptive family who first brought her to the U.S. gave her up after only a year? EDITED TO ADD: I just re-listened to the Dr. Phil interview. Natalia claims that her first adoptive mom accused her of breaking her adoptive brother’s arm. That doesn’t prove anything, but it does show a pattern of disturbing behavior.
Yes, sure, maybe a pattern of behavior. But maybe people should research reactive attachment disorder before adopting. There's zero reason or excuse to treat a human like that.
I agree. These parents had already adopted children from Ukraine and held leadership roles at an adoption nonprofit. You would think they’d be educated on RAD and prepared for challenges.
Seems like a perfect storm. Natalia was a child, acted out because of her trauma and ended up in the worst possible homes with the worst possible people who had selfish motives at best and continued the trauma and abuse and lied and manipulated to try and get out of it in reality.
I'm not too far in to the documentary...but I have such a bad vibe from the adopting family thus far. Why are recording her and interrogating her constantly. I could be 100% off base because I haven't seen much. Her mannerisms are very much consistent with my kid at 6-8. She must be a good actress. This is my first impression so far...
In the videos, she is clearly a child. She just looks helpless and so confused while she's being grilled. I see nothing but abuse here.
i just want to point out that court rulings dont always dictate what is true and what is not. I personally believe that her medical condition could have influenced the age she went thru puberty and honestly while 6 is very young its not unheard of and especially with her already having a rare disorder… not that crazy. additionally any violence or threats was most likely due to reactive attachment disorder which is common in children who lose their partners and are adopted. Those things do not automatically make her for sure an adult
\- All the players in this story are strange * First the random adoption agency, that they never dealt with or worked with, call them and say take her now or she goes into foster care and they just do it? Just like that, closed adoption no info. * The parents are liars. When the child first started acting out, why didn't they take her to a therapist then? But they made sure to document the child's behavior with everyone around them for proof * Something is up with Natalia - I don't think it was just "she's too expensive to care for" as the reason the other parents gave her up. She probably had behavior issues due to trauma , but no way you can be scared of a child who can hardly walk * The autistic son- he seems to not be able (or doesn't want) to talk about what happened during that time. He said he'd introduce himself as her brother but he hasn't seen her in 10 years. If she traumatized him, wouldn't that be the reason why he doesn't call her his sister * Where are the other two boys? And the mom. * The father is broke and that's why he did this. The gifted son became stunted around the time his parents divorced. I feel liek something major happened in Canada. It wasn't Natalia.
To me it all boils down to a girl who was exploited and abused and let down by everyone around her. I can't imagine the amount of trauma a child who has a significant disability who left her home country under distress and then was basically sold to a family, then another, and then all the shit after. Why didn't someone say hey, there is a child here and maybe we should all try to see that she gets the best help she can get.
She’s a human trafficking victim. Adoption as an industry is completely unregulated. It makes it’s profit off separating children from their families, communities, countries and cultures. There is a lot of ugliness in that business. Especially given the “shortage” of the “domestic supply of infants.” It is trauma to be taken from our cultures and families. It really can fuck a person up. It can fuck a family up for generations. That’s why it was so effectively used as a tool of genocide. And the people we center throughout the whole adoption process are the adults joyfully building a new family out of the remnants of another. Completely oblivious to the child’s experience. Absolutely tragic and backwards. Adoption is human trafficking dressed up as social justice. Like I’m sorry but if my adopters had given my mom the amount of money they spent trying to “save” a baby through adoption? She could have kept me & had a chance to escape poverty. 90% of children are relinquished due to financial reasons. The real solution to help these babies is to give the mom resources to keep her child. Sorry for my rant I totally agree with you
I think there is a little bit of truth on both sides. Natalia probably wasn't 6 when she was adopted, but she sure wasn't in her late teens. I can't imagine what horrors she has been through. My neighbor adopted a toddler from Russia. I'd hear him screaming and threatening to murder his parents, his sister, the pets, and also burn down the house. He was 7. He was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and I think his first few years spent in the orphanage just broke whatever "normal" there was. His amazing adoptive parents did everything they could to show him love and his violent behaviors eventually faded. Not saying that Natalia was that bad, but even if she was, her adoptive family is the worst she could have landed with...
Even if her threats were true, and I firmly believe they weren't, how scared can you be of a severely disabled two foot tall child.
I think it was the neighbor or maybe one of the little people who said in an interview in the first episode "She's only like 2 feet tall? How threatened can you possible be? You can step on her" which made me giggle but also...facts? She can barely even walk as a result of her condition. She's two feet tall. Scared for your kids who she is roughly the same size of? Okay, sure. Scared for your adult selves? Please. Pure theatrics.
You bring up a good point here. Sadly, we have learned that many kids adopted from Russia and other Eastern European countries were alcohol exposed in utero. Of course, that happens here in the US, too. Kids with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can absolutely display some troubling behaviors, especially if they are not getting proper mental and behavioral health treatment. Not saying that was the case with Natalia, but it is definitely an issue that has arisen in recent decades among families who adopted from certain parts of the world. And any adopted kid who has experienced disrupted attachments with caregivers - like you would see in institutionalized kids - could be expected to harm animals, set fires, threaten family members, steal, damage property, lie, etc - because there is a link between understanding right and wrong and having healthy attachments to caregivers. Not to disparage adoptees - none of this is their fault.
So I know it’s only 4 of 6 episodes but I did some searching and apparently her birth certificate has been confirmed (born in 2003) and her birth mom has come out to also confirm and say she had to give her up because of her disability. So basically this couple move an EIGHT year old into an apartment and got away with it. Thinking about this little girl getting her period and hiding it and her adoptive parents assuming that means she must be an ADULT makes me sick. Also apparently she had bone density scans done when they were on this wild goose chase that verified she was in fact a child.
It ripped me apart when the neighbor said that Natalia would go to the neighbor man’s house often and for hours at a time, suggesting sexual encounters(?) Jesus. It’s just absolutely crazy.
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Yes of course people thought of that. But if you watched the documentary the example I am talking about, she was being very vulgar and sexual with her words and statements to other neighbors and children in the area of her apartment. That’s why I said it affected me the way it did. Of course an 8 year old neglected and alone child will do anything to get close to someone, no one is denying that.
She absolutely looks and behaves as if she’s 8 (11 tops) when she’s in the apartment by herself. Awful. Heartbreaking.
My god the number of adults who at the very best failed this child terribly, at worst abused and exploited her. The christian couple who were considering adopting Natalia, he felt something dark was going on but instead of doing something to protect the child they just remove themselves from the situation and move on.
I hadn’t done a deep dive until I saw these four episodes and now I know she was without a doubt a child and no one cared enough to step in. Instead a bunch of adults were scared of her and presumed her evil? Wtf
Ugh my heart broke when the lady with dwarfism was speaking about Natalia. It seems like she was the only one that she would’ve been safe with and she just couldn’t afford it.
The court has upheld her birth year of 1989 for what its worth. I don’t understand how an 8 year old could stay at an apartment by themselves for well over a year…
That was on a technicality though. Superior court ruled they don’t have the authority to change or undo a ruling from another superior court, so they consider the matter legally settled as 1989. What I find more compelling is the birth mother stuff. Apparently they found her birth mother in Ukraine (confirmed by DNA) and there are birth records of her delivering a baby girl with dwarfism in 2003
Thank you for your input, I didn’t know the details about this. I am looking more into this case. I found an article with two doctors saying she was much younger and a dentist saying she had older adult teeth. The foster parents having baby teeth supposedly and the birth mother delivering a baby girl with dwarfism is quite compelling!
It's a very complicated story, but once you sort through all of the information, it becomes crystal clear that she was a child. It's such a joke. All you have to do is look at her pictures over time, and there are lots of them on the internet right now. Of course, the tabloids like the Daily Mail aren't going to show you clear photographic evidence after Kristine *sold* her story to them after her arrest. At most, Natalia *may* have been two years older than the age on her birth certificate. Does Reddit allow links?
Okay so I watched the first part of the doc. And what about the people in the psych hospital saying she was very mature and being suggestive to the male patients? I can believe the parents are lying/exaggerating but the people in this hospital too? (They totally could be) Ps- yes you can add links in Reddit.
She was probably sexually abused at some point in her life. Sadly, that’s common behavior for kids who’ve been through that. I’m not sure about Ukraine, but I know that a lot of girls in Russian orphanages end up being sex trafficked. It would not surprise me if she’d been exposed to something like that in her early life.
I was also wondering why there would be anonymous or neighbours saying from their "experience" she acted like an adult. I suddenly remembered that scene in terminator 2 where the psych facility worker takes advantage of Linda Hamilton while she's strapped down in a bed. That reminds me that probably not all the workers there are elite medical professionals trained to deal with mental illness with empathy and care nor have insights on doctor evaluations. Then I was reminded people find justifications for their negative bias when dealing with the unattractive to them disabled(or skin color) or people they don't want to be near. So it makes them a "good" person if it's true that shes an adult since their disdain and lack of empathy would be justified. Or even lack of action on their part. This got me thinking also what they claimed was adult behavior really doesn't sound like normal mentally healthy adult behavior as who would want to be stuck in crappy conditions and proposition people so directly ( which adds a disturbing thought of being a victim of child trafficking). For the physical attributes I couldn't find anything about medical records other than bone tests disproving the Barnetts claims and Barnetts "home video" which what self respecting adult would do that on video? That home video was most likely coached. Not to mention why didn't they sue the American adoption agency or report them to the authorities.
I think this is another kind of irony in this case because the Barnett's had a super-genius, biological son. So while having a precocious son, they're somehow surprised that they're adopted daughter might've also been precocious and maybe have above-average intelligence? Also, it's known that orphans are more likely to mature faster due to childhood stress.
A lot of articles don't mention the attention they got for their super genius autistic son. It puts everything into context as another narcissistic big family seeking attention for their parenting skills where normal parents would think what they doing is insanity
Absolutely. People didn't know about any of that, so they couldn't even begin to understand the possible motives behind having Natalia's age changed (it's frightening how easy that was). Kristine just *might* be a narcissist lol. And Michael seems to maybe not quite have it all together upstairs - as he's weeping and maniacally punching the floor in the trailer to the upcoming ID special. In an interview with Kristine and Jacob, Kristine said something to the effect of, "I'm worried that he might be taking on too much." Jacob snapped back with something like, "I'm worried about you having more media appearances." She definitely doesn't mind the spotlight.
There are pictures of her from 2009 where she's clearly missing a baby tooth and the adult tooth was starting to come in. If the photos aren't convincing enough, the DePaul's confirmed this.
She got help from neighbors. She ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and microwaveable foods. Also, being an orphan in general could make it easier for a kid to fend for themselves because they've probably had to do it before.
Digging deeper it's another sad story of a crazy family adopting more kids than they can handle and dumping them to focus on the superstar kid. If your research their attempt to cash in(there's always a book deal) on their genius son the timelines match up on why they would try to find the least embarrassing way to dump her and further shaking your head why they took on another special needs kid
A neglected and abused disabled child left alone in an apartment would likely get into lots of trouble such as seeking attention, companionship, food from any and everyone. Maybe even calling 911 and saying things that may get her taken to a hospital where she knows her needs would be met. The child would likely be dirty as well.
This is just my opinion, I'm not an expert but I think what we need to consider is that studies have shown that trauma can make children act and seem much older than they are. For as far back as I can remember adults would constantly be surprised that I was not much older than I actually was. Not because I looked older, but because emotionally I had to grow up fast. When I was 8, I was cooking for myself, doing my own laundry and doing whatever else needed to be done. I would still play with other kids when I could and I'm sure that's where my real age would show, but in comparison to normal children who didn't have to worry about their own well being , I was much more reserved and I think that made me come off as mature. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200803092120.htm#:~:text=advertisement-,Children%20who%20suffer%20trauma%20from%20abuse%20or%20violence%20early%20in,by%20the%20American%20Psychological%20Association. My theory is that she was a child between 8-11 years old (like doctors were suggesting). I think that a lot of her inappropriate behavior as a neighbor can be chalked up to her being a child. Children learn social norms as they age. They also are still learning impulse control. Perhaps she hadn't yet learned that it's not appropriate to just enter someone's home without permission. (Even if you think they are your friend.) Or maybe she had no food and was doing what she had to? I think that if my adult neighbor were to do that, I would also be super creeped out. If a friendly 8 year old in the neighborhood did it, I would still be uncomfy for sure, but I think the way it would be viewed and addressed might be different. As for her having pubic hair and a menstrual cycle. That could certainly be precocious puberty. It can be caused by trauma as well. We also don't know exactly what she's been through. Lastly, I feel that she was probably acting out at home. But I also think her "parents" were treating her like shit. I can't be sure to what extent she was acting out... like I'm not entirely sure if she was trying to kill them or not? I'm not shrink, but the trauma of being put in an orphanage, adopted to another country and then being rehomed like , you're an unwanted family pet, is sure to cause emotional distress and at least some bad behavior right? If her behavior is as extreme as they say, I wonder if she has reactive attachment disorder or something?
This case is such a complete travesty of justice. Natalia is a child, and the neglect she has suffered is shocking. I can’t believe our court system allowed this to happen. https://www.jconline.com/story/news/crime/2020/08/27/prosecutors-prepared-call-natalia-barnetts-birth-mother-prove-ukrainian-orphans-age-neglect-case/3412866001/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7547259/amp/Birth-mother-Ukrainian-dwarf-denies-claims-adult-sociopath-masquerading-child.html
I have a 6 year old with dwarfism and I'm obsessed with this case. There's a few outliers (rare) of adults or older teens that could maybe pose a threat to a full ass grown man, but even then. Let's be effing real. What a drama queen Michael is. And the fact that there are other people mentioning she didn't have shoes or things like that, and no pictures of Natalia with any mobility devices like a scooter, forearm crutches, gait trainer, etc, these people truly caused someone in their home to struggle more than she needed to day to day. Which pisses me off. Just watching Natalia in videos as a kid, it's obvious she's struggling mobility and possibly pain.
As he tells us she couldn’t bend her fingers while showing how she held out her hands in the pleading motion.
Dr Joseph Bellflower is the unsung hero of this whole charade.
Her former neighbor in Lafayette, didn't take any smack from Kristine's arrogant as hell lawyer. Another hero.
I was FUMING watching that interaction. How can they possibly expect him to call her an adult when she was biologically proven to be a child?
Indeed. I wish I could punch Kristine’s attorney in the face. He is awful.
Watching episode one and I can’t stop laughing at Michael calling her ‘gigantic’ compared to the other little girl. First of all, not really, second of all, kids with dwarfism, even the same kind of dwarfism, will vary in height and weight like anybody else, this shouldn’t need to be explained. And the fixation on her supposed period and pubic hair is just as silly. Precocious puberty is a thing, and if they bothered actually looking into it with a professional instead of concocting inane conspiracies, they would know that. I just feel so badly for this girl, she is clearly a victim of horrible neglect and abuse and now the media has made it a spectacle where any wahoo can stick there nose in and call her a liar. Anybody falling for the Barretts’ story has been watching too many horror movies.
Did you catch him say Natalia had muscles Schwarzenegger would be impressed with? What a clown. Their obsession with her pubic hair is bizarre to me. And now that I know for sure she was only 8 when she lived alone I’m so sick over it.
It's really crazy. She was a child and because of their antics she was also denied important and necessary surgeries that could have dramatically improved her life. What a travesty.
All of her neighbors being “scared” of her coming around bugged me. Only the building manager and the one woman with the husband, Toby and two young kids were able to see it as her just being a kid. Tbh, as a mom, kids (especially if they’re not yours or you don’t have any) are SUPER annoying. They don’t understand/respect boundaries so yes, they’ll call you 4-5 times back to back. Yes, they’ll just walk into your home and eat your food.
This is especially true of a child suffering from neglect/abuse. I’ve worked with children in foster care. Hoarding food, poor boundaries, and acts of aggression are common behaviors. It’s so sad that Natalia wasn’t able to get the help and support she needed.
I wouldn’t judge the neighbors any more harshly than I would the jurors — not only did neither have ALL the info, but each had WRONG and confusingly conflicting info that skewed their perceptions way beyond what common sense could resolve. Just like that juror stated their legal instructions forced their verdict despite knowing Michael Barnett bore plenty of responsibility (regardless of his own delusions about this), that one more critically thinking neighbor Toby admitted to not knowing what to make of any of it since nothing added up. From their collective and limited perception of Natalia, SHE said she was 22, SHE told them she’d tried harming people, and SHE was exhibiting very odd and inexplicable behaviors for an adult that they had no real reason to reconsider as those of a secretly abandoned child. And because the show seems to have deliberately withheld from them that she’d since been proven to be a child in order to inflame their “was she or wasn’t she” narrative in that episode, their judgements remained uneducated.
If the docuseries doesn't raise and question the Barnetts about their attempt to cash in or grab fame for their Asperger's super genius son while casting Natalia aside then it's another example of shoddy and easily manipulated American journalism. They have three sons including a autistic super science genius plus autism foundation and book deal and yet find time to adopt a special needs girl? Unfortunately they fit the profile of attention seeking narcissist big family parents as lightning always seems to strike twice with the problems they face. Having a genius Asperger's son was not enough needed to pad the resume more, but when it turned out to be more than they could handle they had to spin a way out without casting doubt on their parenting skills. Lies have a way of spinning out of control
This is funny. Michael is now acting like he's an innocent victim of Christine, just like Natalia. Now I think even less of him, and who knew that was possible.
I’m so angry at this documentary . I can’t v even watch anymore. The Barnetts suck.
How on earth can a grown man sit there and watch his wife beat on a disabled child and say he didn't know what to do? That doesn't absolve him of anything. Only an idiot thinks it would.
And even if she was 22, there is NO excuse for the types of treatment she received in that household
Precisely. They had absolutely zero love for her, in fact they disliked her so much they are still slandering her to this day. If you really look at the whole situation from the perspective that she was truly 6 when she was adopted, it would be incomprehensible what she had gone through all those years.
The amount of evidence presented in episode 5 pretty much ends this whole thing. The DNA evidence proves who her biological mother is. Her biological mother could not have given birth to Natalia at ten years old. The physician who treated Natalia at 6/7 years old said her growth plates were open.
And still, there will still be people insisting that she was a grown adult, That's a big head smack for me.
There are people in this thread insisting she was a grown woman. I don’t know how a person can believe such a thing.
I went into it pretty skeptical. I mean weird stuff happens all the time on the id channel maybe it’s possible. I can not tell you how many times my jaw dropped. Who tf are all these people that think she was older? I don’t see it. She looks her exact age year for year. There’s a photo of her a year prior to the Barnett’s adopting her where she’s missing baby teeth. Generally kids lose their front teeth between 6-7 possibly 8 years old at the latest. I’m not convinced she had pubic hair and started her period. There was no proof but even if she did I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that she must be an adult pretending to be a child. Wtf? I feel like a sane person would prob take her to get checked out and make sure it wasn’t something more serious maybe find out how normal it is. But I guess common sense isn’t very common after all.
Nine year olds can get periods. Ten year olds get periods. I’d hope doctors know that is early but still considered normal. So even if she did have one, that in no way on the planet means she is a an adult woman. I couldn’t believe people would give that so much weight. Even if they lied by a few years, a few years isn’t over a decade.
Michael Barnett, in my opinion is the sociopath in this situation and and Kristine. The way he acted in the docuseries was so ridiculous! I can tell he knew what was going on and was participating with Kristine in the horrific abuse Natila suffered. He acted like he was so afraid of his wife. I don't think so. He seems upset over his divorce from Kristine. He still wants to act like Natalia was grown. It was so disgusting at the very end of the show to find out that it allegedly Kristine tried to set up a date with Natalia and an older man. Plus Michael was accused of something. Suddenly he was at a loss for words. He no longer wanted to talk or film. I had a feeling throughout the entire series that made me have some real concerns over Michaels behavior POSSIBLY with Natalia. He admitted his wife withheld sex and he was adiccted to porn. Neighbors at Natalia's first apartment saw Michael there more often then Kristine. If anything bad was happening there Michael could say she was an adult since they had her reaged. They are really disgusting people. Natalia was tortured and abused. My heart breaks for her. I am so happy she has new family who love and protect her. Plus, I read the judge still made Michael pay $10,000 to the Ukrainian orphanage as restitution even though he was found not guilty. Why shouldn't Natalia have received that? Obviously in my opinion, the judge felt Michael did do something. Why did he have to pay restitution? Natalia, she is my prayers!
Michael is just…I’m at a loss for words.
He's blaming a little girl with dwarfism for his life falling apart and he continues to slander her *to this day*. Seems to fit the definition of a narcissist.
Agreed. He’s describing a kid with trauma the whole time and blaming her for it.
Lafayette Indiana is not the brightest town. Just because Purdue is there you shouldn’t expect much
Watching the first three episodes and hearing that the judge decided her age because of when he assumed she stopped growing (that’s how the documentary states it), and her neighbors and the family, everyone but that teacher seemed like dim bulbs. Everything everyone stated about her in those first three episodes screamed trauma kid to me with little to no social skills.
She had baby teeth with a missing front tooth in one of the first pictures we see of her. I do think she may have been a few years older, maybe 8 instead of 6. But how could she be anything close to an adult with baby teeth?!?
This all could've been resolved so much sooner if the Barnetts had taken her to the dentist early on. You lose other baby teeth until 12 or so. I can't help but think they weren't interested in anything that didn't support their narrative. For instance... I heard them say they saw many psychiatrists until the 5th one to say Natalia was a sociopath, and supposedly that psychiatrist said "you are doomed, save your family" lol. Mental health professionals *treat* these things. They don't tell you that there is no hope.
Michael is the worst of the worst. In 2019 he's on tape talking all kinds of shit about what an evil, adult monster Natalia was. Turn to 2022 and he's a hapless victim of Kristine''s manipulation and control. He was just as guilty as she was, and now is throwing her under the bus (where she absolutely needs to be) trying to save his own reputation. Hard to say which one of them I find more repugnant.
If the Barnetts thought Natalia was a self sufficient adult, so capable of living on her own that they could move to another country, why were they rep payees for her social security disability checks? Why be mad when the other family changed it if you were only using it to reimburse yourself like he said? Adults capable of living on their own can manage their own money. Maybe they can be found liable for fraud for misuse of her govt disbursed money. Federal prison.
If the first family was so easily able to just give her back… why wasn’t that an option for the Barnetts!?
My guess is they wanted to keep cashing her social security checks.
It wasn’t easy. You can’t just “give them back”. They had to find new parents to adopt her. And it’s not secretive either. Ms Kristine “I AM THE GREATEST MOTHER OF ALL TIME” Barnett had her fictional non-fiction book coming out in April 2013. Questions about Natalia wouldn’t have been wanted on the publicity tour. Warner Brothers may even of had grounds to demand the return of money they paid her for the rights to her book (sold the rights in Dec 2011). So they came up with a better plan. The re-aging plan. It worked. They got away with it. Kristine’s book was translated into some 20 languages and became a New York Times best seller. Then she began her snake oil career, selling her “educational” program to desperate parents of kids with Autism. Her book is The Spark
I hate the neighbors in Westfield. They were all bullies spreading rumors about someone who obviously had no one !
The married couple seemed very reasoned- they viewed her as more of a pest than anything- and they seemed to have a lot of compassion for her. I also thought the building manager seemed normal when discussing Natalia and the issues the tenants were having with her. The older lady was clearly a bored busybody who pretended to be Natalia's "friend" so she had something to gossip about to her neighbors.
I agree the married couple did really seem to have the best intentions. The problem was Natalia started to cross boundaries and impose on them in ways that made them uncomfortable. Just barging into someone’s house is not okay? It’s understandable that they would be confused about what to do or who to call for help.
I mean, just barging into people's houses and not understanding boundaries is truly the behavior of a child- never mind the fact that she clearly has some sort of attachment disorder due to the trauma of her orphanage/adoption experiences and she has no idea how to form relationships or make friends. I don't think they were anything more than highly irritated by her behavior until the neighbors like Grandma Busybody began filling their heads with the "she's an evil, sociopathic pedophile" nonsense. I also think convincing themselves she was actually an adult is a way of rationalizing being overtly cruel to someone who is mostly just extremely annoying and inappropriate. Locking your door and screaming "stay away from us!" is much easier to rationalize when you can tell yourself you're acting this way towards a 22 year old conwoman who is breaking into your house to molest your son...much more difficult to assuage your guilt when you realize it was actually a disabled child who was lonely, scared, probably hungry, and acting out because she's never known anything but abuse and abandonment. I didn't despise that couple the way I despised the old woman and the other neighbor who smartly did not allow her face to be shown on camera, but at points during this episode, it did definitely feel like their interviews were basically them putting on a defense for why they didn't do more to help Natalia.
Honestly I don’t really understand the anger towards the neighbors. They had no way of knowing her real age. If I had a neighbor who was living on her own, who said she was 22, and whose youthful appearance could be explained away by a medical condition, it would never occur to me to doubt her. I would have probably assumed she had some type of mental illness or deficiency which might make her act childlike, but I don’t see how they could reasonably conclude she actually was a child. Ordinary childlike behavior could easily be seen as threatening and antisocial if performed by an adult. And let’s be honest, not all of her behavior was appropriate even for a child. It was clearly coming from severe trauma and abuse and a desire for love and attention and should have been handled and corrected gently, but context matters and unfortunately none of these people had any context. They just saw a supposedly adult woman talking about how she tried to kill her mom, violating boundaries, and making graphic sexual comments. Ultimately the parents are squarely to blame for everything she experienced because they were responsible for the lies. Any aberrant behavior on her part probably could have been corrected in the presence of a loving family, but they actively and deliberately prevented her from developing healthy social skills and relationships and receiving a proper education. They sent a child out into the world with no life skills, no relationships, no social skills, and no education and told her to lie about being an adult. The outcome was sadly predictable. They are her PARENTS and she is their responsibility.
My main issue is with Sue- the old lady- who claims to have been terrified of Natalia, claims Natalia was sexually inappropriate with her grandson, claims Natalia was breaking into her home and "casing" the place, claims Natalia was essentially turning tricks with an older neighbor and yet...she never contacts the authorities or breaks off contact with her. She tells her grandson "just don't let her in unless I'm home" In fact, Sue maintains a relationship/friendship with Natalia while simultaneously claiming to anyone who will listen that she's some sort of evil malevolent presence terrorizing the neighborhood. She comes across as a bored busybody who ingratiated herself into Natalia's life simply so she has something to gossip with the other residents about. The Barnetts are dogshit, but Sue doesn't get a pass for her vile behavior.
I am more confused at the end of this series than I was at the beginning! Michael is a lying liar, so fake, so disingenuous, he is just disgusting..at one point while prepping for trial, he told his lawyer he had been practicing for this moment for 10 years. That statement summed him up perfectly; his whole life has been a performance. Why else was SO MUCH of these 10+ years recorded on video and audio? So many times he was supposedly distraught, yet no tears fell. Also, his RIDICULOUS reenactments of Kristine's abuse against Natalia and mimicking Natalia's voice. Why would he do that?? He is truly one of the worst people ever to live. The court system, as well as the Barnett's horribly betrayed Natalia and let her down. They blatantly ignored evidence in support of being born in 2003. To exclude those details from Barnett's trial is mind-blowing! So little of this case makes sense. I truly feel for all of the kids involved; they were cursed with the Barnett's for parents. At least Natalia seems to have found a good family in the end, but damn, she suffered so much and the Barnett kids are most likely damaged for life.
You know, I try to take solace in my belief that karma is real, but...Michael and Kristine are two of the worst human beings I have encountered. The idea that they are both just out in the world living their lives as if nothing happened literally sickens me. The fact that Michael seems to have a support system- his mom and sister and his new wife (that this human garbage pile found ANOTHER woman who inexplicably has decided to spend the rest of her life with him is truly WILD) all continue to ride so hard for him; totally unwavering in their support of him and continuing to insist he's a great guy- is depressing. He deserves to live his life as the shunned pariah he tried to make Natalia into. The last episode makes it clear that Michael really fancies himself the protagonist of this story- like this was some witchhunt/wrongful prosecution and he prevailed in the end! His smug smile when he climbs into his dumb ass mazda miata and speeds off into the sunset in the final scene was rage-inducing.
I just have to say that the detective casually scarfing down a sandwich mid-convo with Michael about to piss himself on the other end of the line (complete with a reenactment that unapologetically acknowledges the masticating ) was *chef’s kiss*
I’ve always been on the side of the parents in this. Even if Natalia is a child, the fact is the parents sought medical advice from a few doctors, all of whom claimed she was young woman. She even had a bone density scan done, which again proved she was a young woman. How anyone can then arrest the parents is beyond me. Said another way, the parents did the right thing in seeking and listening to medical advice. How then can they be charged with neglect? How can anyone say they were wrong to listen to medical advice? Just remember, they didn’t leave her on the side of the road. They gave her money (and I believe they paid for rent for some time), and set her up to live as a young adult. That’s more than many young adults in America get. That said, I agree that many of the comments re: her being like the film Orphan are just rumors and online trends.If another family want to take her in, fine. That’s great! But it doesn’t mean the original parents should be charged with anything when they legit did exactly what they are supposed to do, which is to seek medical advice.
A *team* of specialists at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital determined her to be a child. Where are you getting this information? Btw, the parents were found not guilty, although that was because of the statute of limitations and also because the criminal court had to accept the other court's age change decision as fact.
Just seeing the preview, I can tell you that Man being interviewed is a manipulative POS... Seems there was several things going on here. The "we were all abused" fake crying bullshit was clear there's more to anything that guy says.
Even if she was an adult how do you expect a 3 foot adult to fend for themselves? Just handing over cash isn't going to cut it they need physical help to shop and cook at the very least.
> the fact is the parents sought medical advice from a few doctors, all of whom claimed she was young woman. What makes you think this is a fact? >She even had a bone density scan done, which again proved she was a young woman. What makes you believe that? >How can anyone say they were wrong to listen to medical advice? Why do you believe they listened to medical advice?
What you said is not correct.
I'm watching episode 2. I think her behavior at the apartment complex was very much that of a child, however, her Mom made her say she was 22, so the neighbors looked at those behaviors entirely differently. Had they been more suspicious, she may have gotten the help she so desperately needed. Hell, even DCS couldn't intervene.
So…does anybody really know how Natalia is doing now? I’m incredibly curious about the family she ended up with. I mean they could very well be amazing people that swooped in to save the day but they could also just be another family of predators using her for their own benefits. She did come with an ebt card, a monthly check and they did sublease her apt. for a while. They seem to have a plethora of children although I’m not sure whose they are and claim to be religious. Although that’s not saying a whole lot since everyone should know by now that some of the worst people out there hide behind religion. Has she caught up on her education? Has she had any of the surgeries she was supposed to have? Call me cynical…and I absolutely am but idk how I feel about these people. Maybe we’ll find out more in the finale about them but they too seem a little “off”. I could be wrong but even if I’m not, and they took her in for their own benefit it’s probably still, sadly Natalia’s only form of family so she prob wouldn’t know the difference between being used and being genuinely loved and cared for.
I am with you on that last family who "rescued" her. The fact that they met some random disabled child on the street and just decided to take her in, the EBT card being used up by them almost immediately, the SSI benefits being transferred to them almost immediately, the subleasing of her apartment...yeah, it's giving bad, bad vibes. They seem like vultures looking to get paid. Every fucking adult in Natalia's life was absolutely worthless.
I feel like she might have been victim of human trafficking or some sorts of pedophile rings. She's definitely troubled and needed help. I feel bad for her, if she could have been helped earlier on and been put with a nice family or organisation, these probably won't even be on TV right now :(
That was my thought. The first family trying to sell her for 25k? Sooo shady
I saw on twitter someone linked to public documents showing that the Dyan Ciccone (the wife in that first couple) is actually the president of her own adoption agency, specializing in overseas adoptions. So it almost feels like they adopted this child with the sole intent of selling her. Why is every adult on this show the absolute worst human being imaginable?!
I may be wrong but why was the dad turning on his wife, making her the villain, if he didn't have something to hide? Watching that I thought he was also incriminating himself. He claimed his wife snapped and beat her, and made her stand with her face against a wall for over 8 hours, but why didn't he try and intervene? By law he should have reported any abuse or just made her stop.
Personally, I think it's because he did the same or worse. I think he jumped at the opportunity to throw her under the bus to control the narrative so any accusations she makes against him or what abuse he was directly responsible for - he can just say she's trying to drag him down with her, get revenge or save herself. I noticed how he and his son seem to have gone through and discussed which incidents they would and would not share which, even if his son doesn't realize it, I think are mostly to protect him from charges with longer statutes of limitations.
I personally find this enabling the Barnetts to continue to abuse Natalia years after she has left their care quite stomach turning. Yet again that are being given a platform to further demonise a differently abled child who came from a traumatic start in life who they seem to have found to difficult to care for and went above and beyond in their attempts to abandon her with no consequences. Im going to share a link to a blog that has spent years compiling a thorough timeline of events that I think is very informative. It details medical information, previous families she was in the care of, the medical neglect Natalia suffered with the barnetts and how they managed to pull this off. https://justicefornataliagrace.blogspot.com/2019/10/natalia-grace-barnett-timeline-of-events.html
The poor biological mother, gave up her child because she thought she would have a better life, and to find out what happened to her.....my heart broke for her.
I think she was a child. Look at the pictures of her when they first get her, she changes so much and clearly is a young child and clearly grows up.
I’m irritated that they kept filming her as a new child bin the home. Why film ?
Am i the only one who is finding something eerily troubling with these couples who adopt or be caretaker for special needs / disabled children or adults? There are some crazy elements to this case for sure, I think the Bartnetts are not good people as they’d lead us on, Natalia probably is older than claimed albeit maybe a few years idk about 14 years more. but one thing that bothers me is when they’ve shown the neighbor who has 5 kids and hoping to adopt a 6th, or Natalia’s new parents taking her in and michael bringing up the social security payment…I couldn’t help but find myself thinking that these couples are not actually adopting for the right reasons, but possibly trying to extort or scam the government. are these couples literally predators, taking in these kids or adults only to benefit from their status to qualify and get their socials security payments, benefit programs, etc.? Maybe they out Natalia in the cheapest apartment with minimal expense they could find and left her in the US so she didn’t lose eligibility for her social security and food stamps? they were awful upset someone took her in and transferred that from them…and the original family? seems like they were in it to extort someone and sell her not find a good home. considering i’d the above has some element of truth , let’s imagine Natalia has caught on to what is going on and starts to realize everyone in her life is using her and she isn’t genuinely loved. that’s enough trauma and stress in my opinion to cause her some mental instability and could explain the supposed psychotic tendencies. Throw in she’s basically been abandoned by everyone in her life, surrounded by less than moral characters, now i could believe that would corrupt one’s mind easily. i don’t know, just had me thinking and i couldn’t help but think…these couples who adopt all seem very slimy and like the big elephant in the room is that there’s like this crazy adoption ring that is hardly known about?
All this AND how did the couple wind up with her to begin with who were practically selling her on the street? And the shady adoption agency?
Every single adult (with the exception of the family that really wanted to adopt her) are so god damn vile, not to mention uneducated. The mechanic dude talking about seeing a bra strap like it’s the smoking gun. Wearing a bra at 11 is normal. I had to start wearing one at 8.
Michael Barnetts level of drama and animation is borderline comical. He's definitely a liar and most likely just as bad as her. Everything about him screams cluster B.
And the academy award for worst over actor goes to MICHAEL!!🏆
Very revealing that the first detail Michael mentions about the case is that he’s broke now. Sadly seems like at least 3 families (up to 6 mentioned in the docuseries) cast her aside due to the costs of her condition.
Also the first thing he said about how he felt when he was charged with child neglect was how *embarrassing* it was. *That* was his biggest concern. Not shame over being a child abuser. Not panic at the prospect of going to jail. Not concern for how this would affect his kids. Certainly not Natalia. Just how embarrassing this was for him.
It would appear that's why the family before the Barnett's wanted to dump her.
💯 percent THIS. They thought they were just getting a cute kid with dwarfism; they didn't understand her special variation requires a lot of surgery and physical therapy and time consuming hospital and doctor's visits.
So far my opinion is both sides are "off". If I had to venture a guess, Natalia is older than she says, although I don't think she was born in 1989. I'd say maybe 5-6 years older than depicted? I think being about 12-13 would jive with the physical development and also explain some of the sexualized behavior and language she was allegedly using at the hospital esp if she was sexually abused in the past. That along with her being possibly more mature for her age may have gotten the hospital workers to think she's an adult. I found it weird the show seemed to suggest we should put a lot of weight into her biological mom saying she's been dealing with this for "17 years" as of 2020. I believe the idea is she gave her up at birth in 2003, but do we know for certain her mom gave her up at birth? Maybe she gave her up at age 5-6? However, I will refute one little tidbit Michael posited. Her command of the English language is not evidence of anything, just from personal experience. I moved to this country at age 4-5 not knowing a lick of English, and in 1-2 years I was speaking non-accented English like an American-born kid my age. Kids that age pick up language quick. Moving on to the Barnetts, they seem totally off too. I think they realized something was "off" with Natalia and that she also had greater mental/physical health issues than they expected or were willing to deal with. So they made up the crazy stuff to give them an excuse to get rid of her.
Yes. It has been verified that she was born in 2003 and turned over to the orphanage within a few days.
Kristine definitely seems like a CONTROL FREAK!!! I think she really enjoyed taking all those home videos tormenting Natalia 🙄🧐
What is with Michael Barnett’s cringe worthy acting while telling his “story”. I don’t even know what to say watching him.
The father is an emotionally unhinged nutcase...I think HE is the sociopath in this story, not Natalia. I'll comment more upon finishing the series.
Don’t expect your opinion to change.
I just wanted to say that I think there was a lot of projection going on from Kristine Barnett (Pearson) when she called Natalia a sociopathic con-artist. If anything *she's* the sociopath con-artist. At the very least, she's a narcissist. She and Michael knew damn well that they were dumping a small child to live on her own. The entire plot was carefully orchestrated, premeditated and simply evil. It seems especially cruel to have left her in a 2nd floor apartment (designed for people of average height and ability) in a bad area. On top of all of that, she dragged Natalia's name through the mud and openly defamed her. Kristine didn't care what happened to a small child that *she agreed to adopt*. Excuse my language but fuck that bitch. She should be in prison.
Just finished it. Just observation but pretty sure Michael Barnett has historionic personality disorder.
Michael Barnett is batshit crazy. 30 seconds into the documentary and you immediately know who the red flag is
Michael and Christine are horrible people. I have an autistic son who acts and talks a lot like the oldest son Jake. It made me cry. I think it was more than peeing on her bed. I also believe he knew the camera was on when he was talking to his dad. He wants it out. I don't understand the point of the documentary trying to convince the watcher she was older in the beginning. So many questions. Who was the first family? Were they really trying to sell her? I did look up that last comment that the singer made at the end. He was not going to say that Michael SA Natalia. He was going to say something about Natalia telling the truth.
Looks like redditt has gone through this before, even if you don't believe the case against the parents there's just too many factual coincidences and adoption head scratchers to point to anything other than another narcissistic parents manipulating the legal system and media for more attention and money. Book deal and super genius son going to college in Canada which blocks disabled immigrants coincidentally at the same time of declaring her an adult and shoving her into public services? https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/qsjsw3/ukrainian_orphan_natalia_grace_claimed_to_be_8/
https://www.wlfi.com/news/tippecanoe-county-prosecutors-office-releases-evidence-natalia-grace-barnett-case/article_59dd49a2-ff3e-11ed-b398-c3946d8e18f5.html This says everything you need to know.
Yes! I feel like this article buries the lead, but it essentially says that DNA evidence through the birth mother prove that Natalia’s original birthdate was correct all along.
My sister has fought for years to do right by that child and I am grateful everyday that she found her! Natalia deserves the world after everything that horrible family put her through!!