A Ukranian ‘orphan’, who is also an adult dwarf, has opened up on Dr Phil after being labelled as a sociopath by her foster parents.
Natalia Grace Barnett was adopted from Ukraine in 2010 by an Indiana couple, Kristine and Michael Barnett. The Barnett’s believed they were adopting a six-year-old child with a form of dwarfism however later believed they had adopted a sociopathic adult woman.
Kristine explained Natalia was a “sociopath” and a “con artist” who would terrorise the family.
“She was standing over people in the middle of the night. You couldn’t go to sleep. We had to hide all the sharp objects,” she said.
“I saw her putting chemicals, bleach, Windex something like that, in my coffee and I asked her, ‘what are you doing?’ She said, ‘I am trying to poison you’.”
Natalia was treated for various psychiatric disorders and was made to have bone density tests which revealed Natalia’s age was at least 14 years or older. In 2012 Barnett’s successfully had Natalia’s age legally changed to 22 so that she could receive adult psychiatric treatment. Shortly after, the Barnett’s fled to Canada, leaving Natalia behind, and as a result, were charged with neglecting a dependent.
Recently, Natalia has appeared on Dr Phil where the host confronted her with hard-hitting questions on a mission to get the truth.
“I guess it all comes down to whether or not you’re an evil psychopath demon child who’s come over here to murder everybody,” he asked.
“[Your adoptive parents] say that you scammed them, that you lied about your age and came over here and terrorized them.”
Addressing the accusations for the first time, Natalia denied all allegations and insisted that she is actually a 16-year-old girl, not a 30-year-old woman.
“It’s not true at all,” she told Dr Phil, during her first public interview. “I just want people to hear my side.”
The full interview will air on Friday (NZ time) and the Barnetts are scheduled to appear in court in January 2020.
