IN - Couple charged with abandonment of adopted child after legally changing her age, Sept 2019 #2 *not guilty*

[AgeofAquaruis]

Interesting, I missed that.
I guess that would have fallen under crisis communications.

Well that's interesting. Kristine went on FB a while back claiming she was going to face the media,Boohoo hoo and she didn't have a lawyer,and Blah,Blah. I was wondering how they were getting all media,and interviews.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

Interesting, I missed that.
I guess that would have fallen under crisis communications.

Well that's interesting. Kristine went on FB a while back claiming she was going to face the media,Boohoo hoo and she didn't have a lawyer,and Blah,Blah. I was wondering how they were getting all media,and interviews.

 

[gitana1]

I see on the court website that Michael has motioned to quash a subpoena for Herd Strategies. Herd Strategies appears to be a public relations firm. Does this mean Michael (and by extension Kristine) had hired Herd to guide him through all his television appearances?? Could this be how he got all of those appearances? I didn’t see this reported on, but perhaps I overlooked it.

That’s going to be a hard motion to win. If they’re not Lawyers anything he says to them about the case is fair game.

 

[gitana1]

A doctor in Boston examined Natalia in 2008 when she arrived in the United States as a Ukrainian orphan. An interpreter helped the doctors communicate with Natalia during the 2008 examination, according to the affidavit.

Natalia's medical records charted the surgeries she needed and set a timetable for the operations, according to the affidavit. The Barnetts had copies of these records.

Michael Barnett sent a letter Natalia's school in Westfield noting he was aware that Natalia's surgeries needed to be done in a timely manner and that she was suffering because the surgeries were delayed, according to the amended affidavit for the new charges.
Michael and Kristine Barnett face more charges of neglecting daughter, Natalia

Holy smokes. It DOES get worse. Clear evil.

 

[gitana1]

I really wish more than just us and the litigants knew about all this.

 

[jjenny]

So she never got the surgeries she needed? Or if she got them (or some of them), they were delayed and not done in a timely manner? Clearly her posture deteriorated dramatically since she came to US.

 

[Meloni88]

I want to make sure that the agency followed proper procedure and any requirements that were set by the state were adhered to. I guess I wonder how the Barnett's get custody and, ultimately, adopt a child with NO oversight or post placement reports. Here they are a few years later questioning her age, not following through on medical needs. If the agency didn't do what they were supposed to, I want the world to know and for there to be some oversight of them. Children with special needs (and all children in general) who are vulnerable and in the world of adoption should have well defined safeguards and protections. I am concerned there were none here.

I hope we find out as well. I'm thinking that once the adoption is a done deal the agency wouldn't have any involvement or any right to demand info about the adopted child. Someone with experience in this please correct me but my understanding is that when you adopt the child they becomes yours as much as your biological children and no one comes to your house asking questions about your natural kids unless there's reports of abuse or something. So perhaps they were in contact up till November but ties got severed after that? A lady who called up asking how Natalia was was told by Kristine she was "doing well and loved" after she'd ditched her in Lafayette. If the agency ever rang she would have said the same no doubt.

 

[kaen]

I hope we find out as well. I'm thinking that once the adoption is a done deal the agency wouldn't have any involvement or any right to demand info about the adopted child. Someone with experience in this please correct me but my understanding is that when you adopt the child they becomes yours as much as your biological children and no one comes to your house asking questions about your natural kids unless there's reports of abuse or something. So perhaps they were in contact up till November but ties got severed after that? A lady who called up asking how Natalia was was told by Kristine she was "doing well and loved" after she'd ditched her in Lafayette. If the agency ever rang she would have said the same no doubt.

In my adoptions (living in NY with agency in Washington DC for 1 and Washington State for 2), we were required to have post placement visits and reports done that were sent to the agencies. Not sure about IN and FL, though.

 

[Dawn Day]

That’s going to be a hard motion to win. If they’re not Lawyers anything he says to them about the case is fair game.

YASSA! I was hoping that was the case!!

 

[Meloni88]

It's kind of funny he hired a PR company for this like he was an important public figure. If they'd just kept quiet and not drawn so much attention to themselves and Natalia hardly anyone would care about this story.

 

[squareandrabbet]

So she never got the surgeries she needed? Or if she got them (or some of them), they were delayed and not done in a timely manner? Clearly her posture deteriorated dramatically since she came to US.

So far, it looks as if the answer is "Natalia didn't get a single one of the surgeries she needed, and thus all of them were delayed and not done in a timely manner"; but maybe it's still unknown, primarily because of the privacy of Natalia's medical records. I tend to doubt it, as being abandoned at age 8 (at least according to the Courier-Journal) would kind of tend to cut down on the amount of time she could spend in surgery.

Also from the C-J:

A woman living in Ukraine claims she is Natalia's birth mother, according to a report by the Daily Mail. If prosecutors can confirm the woman's claim through DNA samples, it would end the dispute about Natalia's age, according to the motion.

I'm glad to see somebody is in fact pursuing the DNA angle.

 

[Keine Engel]

So far, it looks as if the answer is "Natalia didn't get a single one of the surgeries she needed, and thus all of them were delayed and not done in a timely manner"; .

 

[Leaila]

I’m not sure how the laws work or the court system in the US, but will a judgment against the Barnett’s open the door for N to have her true age be placed back on her birth certificate?

 

[Medstudies]

Still trying to catch up, so forgive if I ask if anyone has seen the video from InsideEdition that was aired last month? There’s a short (3+ minute clip of it available on YouT) “14 year old has fond memories of Ukraine orphan”

Very nice interview with many new (to me anyway) photos of NB with this now 14 year old. It’s nice to see support and affirmation for NB.

And I know it’s been asked, is anyone planning on attending the trial? I’m less than a 90 minute drive to Lafayette, weather permitting I plan on being there

 

[Meloni88]

So far, it looks as if the answer is "Natalia didn't get a single one of the surgeries she needed, and thus all of them were delayed and not done in a timely manner"; but maybe it's still unknown, primarily because of the privacy of Natalia's medical records. I tend to doubt it, as being abandoned at age 8 (at least according to the Courier-Journal) would kind of tend to cut down on the amount of time she could spend in surgery.

Also from the C-J:



I'm glad to see somebody is in fact pursuing the DNA angle.

She got one surgery. She said on Dr Phil that it was after that one operation (I think it was on her foot but not sure) that Kristine started to turn on her and accuse her of lying about her age.

 

[squareandrabbet]

She got one surgery. She said on Dr Phil that it was after that one operation (I think it was on her foot but not sure) that Kristine started to turn on her and accuse her of lying about her age.

Very interesting. Poor Natalia - under a different family she might already have had the surgeries, which might very well have been a large reason why the Ukrainian adoption agency agreed to adopt her out, knowing that these functions were available in America.

 

[Scrapper18]

I hope we find out as well. I'm thinking that once the adoption is a done deal the agency wouldn't have any involvement or any right to demand info about the adopted child. Someone with experience in this please correct me but my understanding is that when you adopt the child they becomes yours as much as your biological children and no one comes to your house asking questions about your natural kids unless there's reports of abuse or something. So perhaps they were in contact up till November but ties got severed after that? A lady who called up asking how Natalia was was told by Kristine she was "doing well and loved" after she'd ditched her in Lafayette. If the agency ever rang she would have said the same no doubt.

In my adoptions (living in NY with agency in Washington DC for 1 and Washington State for 2), we were required to have post placement visits and reports done that were sent to the agencies. Not sure about IN and FL, though.

We have adopted twice internationally. The post placement reports, frequency and total number, is based on the country the child is adopted from.

It looks like Ukraine requires an annual report the first three years following the adoption and then once every three years until the child is 18. (Found in the “After Adoption” tab.)

Ukraine Intercountry Adoption Information

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

If dentist visits in 2011 and 2012 both gave a maximum estimated age of 9, why does the McLaren letter claim that N had "adult dentition"?

This gets more appalling every time new information comes out! MB knew N was suffering increased pain and needed those operations, but instead of helping N get the operations and taking care of her while she healed from them (I presume some of the ops would be serious enough to further impede N's mobility while she healed?) they chose to come up with a complete pack of fabrications to get her age changed to 22 so that she'd no longer be their legal responsibility. And now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Michael had a very interesting post on FB. Back in 2013 about offing a dentist before fleeing to Canada.

 

[jjenny]

Children have baby teeth that are replaced by adult teeth. So I guess at some point every child will have adult dentition, while still remaining a child. Adult dentition doesn't make someone an adult as far as I can tell, because baby teeth are replaced by adult teeth when someone is still a child.
Baby Teeth to Adult Teeth: Stages & Differences| Colgate® Oral Care

 

[jjenny]

Very interesting. Poor Natalia - under a different family she might already have had the surgeries, which might very well have been a large reason why the Ukrainian adoption agency agreed to adopt her out, knowing that these functions were available in America.

I think nobody was going to adopt her in Ukraine itself because of her extensive medical needs. Bio mom claims she was told Natalia was going to get expensive surgery in US.