A US woman accused of abandoning her daughter has claimed the girl she adopted in 2010 was in fact an adult suffering from dwarfism who ‘tried to kill’ the family.

Kristine Barnett and ex-husband Michael Barnett were charged with neglect after leaving Ukraine-born Natalie Grace in an apartment shortly before the family moved to Canada in 2013.

The family paid Natalie’s rent after they left the United States but otherwise broke off contact, Michael Barnett reportedly told police.

Natalie is 3ft tall and has trouble walking.

In a defence echoing the 2009 horror film ‘The Orphan’, Ms Barnett, 45, says Natalie was 22-years-old when they left her behind - not nine, as court documents claim.

According to a letter from the family doctor, which Ms Barnett provided to a local TV station, Natalie’s date of birth at the time of adoption was 'clearly inaccurate'.

The letter, which Indiana University Health have not confirmed as genuine, states that she had adult teeth and had begun menstruating.