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In 2010, Natalia Grace, believed to be a six-year-old Ukrainian orphan, was adopted by an Indiana couple, Michael and Kristine Barnett. The couple soon made a bombshell discovery. Natalia was actually an adult woman with a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal. The adult woman was merely posing as a child and had sinister intentions for her adoptive family.
The Barnetts reported that Natalia threatened to stab them and their biological children, poisoned Kristine's coffee and did "as much as possible to cause hurt or harm or mental distress to the entire family." They claimed that doctors allegedly treating her told them she "is a sociopath" and "a con artist."
A three-night special event on ID is chronicling the case in an explosive docuseries titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, starting from Monday to Wednesday. The second and third episodes of the five-part series air on the channel this Tuesday, May 30, at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm ET, respectively.
The synopsis states:
"The Barnett's adoption of Natalia, an alleged 6-year-old Ukrainian orphan, turns into a nightmare when they learn she may not be who she says she is; with suspicions mounting, the Barnetts discover they may have an adult stranger in their home."
According to latest reports, Natalia Grace was adopted by another Indiana couple, Cynthia and Anton Mans, after the Barnetts abandoned her and even appeared on Dr. Phil during a November 2019 episode with her new parents.
Natalia Grace was adopted by the Barnetts from a Florida adoption agency in 2010
The predicament involving Natalia Grace started on April 26, 2010, when an Indiana couple, Michael and Kristine Barnett, decided to adopt who they believed was a six-year-old Ukranian orphan from a center in Florida. They wanted to provide a home and family to a child in need and initially, their life was seemingly "fantastic."
The Barnetts were witnessing their nightmares come to life as they realized Natalia is not who they thought she was when they adopted her. They soon started to question her real age in the initial days after her adoption. The first questions were raised when Kristine, the adoptive mother, was giving Natalia a bath and noticed that the child had "full pubic hair."
In the months that followed, the Barnetts alleged that things escalated, including them discovering that she was hiding her period from them for months. Moreover, Natalia did not speak with a Ukrainian accent and her bone structure and vocabulary were more advanced than the children of her age.
They also accused Natalia of trying to poison Kristine's coffee and on one occasion, kill her by dragging her towards an electric fence. Allegedly, she also put clear thumb tacks, face-up on the stairs for someone to step on them, and according to Michael, as reported by the Daily Mail, one night, he saw her "standing at the foot of the bed with a knife in her hand."
According to People, Michael Barnett told Good Morning America that doctors allegedly treating Natalia Grace told them that she "is a sociopath," "a con artist," and their family is "in danger."
Natalia Grace was later adopted by Cynthia and Anton Mans, another Indiana couple
By 2012, the Barnetts petitioned Marion County Probate Court to alter Natalia Grace's birth year from 2003 to 1989 and change her legal age to 22 years before leaving her alone in a Lafayette apartment and moving to Canada with their three boys the following year.
The Barnetts were eventually charged with neglect of a dependent. However, because of Natalia's court-ordered age change, Michael was found not guilty of three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent in 2022. All charges against them were later dropped.
According to Distractify, Natalia Grace suffers from a rare form of dwarfism known as spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. Moreover, in November 2019 she appeared on Dr. Phil, alongside her new adoptive parents, Cynthia and Anton Mans, who took her in when she was abandoned by the Barnetts, to clarify her situation.
During the interview, Natalia reportedly denied being an adult and asserted that she never conned her former family. Cynthia and Anton Mans, who adopted her at a time when they already had two children and were expecting a third on the way, defended her and even described her as a "genuine loving girl" and not an "adult sociopath masquerading as a child."
Cynthia and Antwon Mans reportedly attempted to become legal guardians of the girl in 2016, but later "withdrew their petition after the court upheld an earlier ruling that she was born in 1989 and not 2003," as per court records. Natalia Grace gets disability payments of $733 per month, which would go to the Mans if they were Natalia's guardians.
ID's The Curious Case of Natalia Grace will further delve into this in its upcoming episodes this Tuesday.
