Natalia Grace Takes DNA Test to Prove Her Real Age – Her Adoptive Parents Accused Her of Pretending to Be a Kid for Years

• Natalia Grace was first adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett, Indiana.
• At the time, she was believed to be six years old, but the adoptive parents suspected she was older.
• The couple abandoned Natalia, and many years later, her actual age is revealed.

Natalia Grace is a Ukrainian orphan who arrived in the United States in 2008. She was born with a type of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita.

Natalia had lived with several foster families, but in 2010, she was adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett, a couple from Indiana. At the time, the pair believed they were adopting a six-year-old child but grew suspicious the more they lived with Natalia.

The couple suspected Natalia might have been older than her age on her legal documents. The Barnetts reportedly noticed her adult teeth and pubic hair and that she had a monthly cycle.

Michael and Kristine took matters further and petitioned for Natalia's age to be changed from eight to 22 in 2012, meaning her birth year would have gone from 2003 to 1989.

This was after the couple had allegedly taken Natalia to a doctor who told them she was an adult. The couple also had three children, and the following year, they moved to Canada and left their adoptive daughter alone in a flat in Lafayette, Indiana.

The couple cut contact with Natalia, but the story started gaining attention in 2019 when Michael and Kristine were charged for neglecting a dependant. The public attention led to the adoptive parents telling multiple news channels that Natalia Grace was an adult pretending to be a child.

However, Natalia broke her silence in a three-part docuseries called "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace," which aired from May 29 to 31 and streamed on Max and Discovery +. The series goes back to 2010 when Natalia was under the care of the Barnetts.

In the docuseries, Michael and Kristine speak of how they noticed Natalia was older from her body and her advanced vocabulary. They were also reportedly shocked that she did not have an accent even though she had allegedly just moved to the US.

But they also accused their former adoptive daughter of threatening their lives. The parents claimed that Natalia threatened to stab them and tried to poison Kristine. "We are living with a con artist sociopath," said the couple.

The documentary also includes statements from neighbors who did not have nice things to say about Natalia. Toby Miles was one of the neighbors featured and revealed that Natalia told him about the day she held a knife over the couple and when she allegedly tried to poison Kristine.

According to Toby, Natalia said part of the punishment was being forced to live in the garage while all the knives in the house were hidden from her. However, Natalia appeared on the "Dr Phil" show with the new family that took her in.

The Ukrainian girl was taken in by a couple named Anton and Cynthia Mans, who only had good things to say about her. Natalia claimed that everything Michael said about her on the show was false.

She denied ever lying to her former adoptive parents and reiterated that they were trying to paint her as a "crazy person." On the other hand, her new family described her as a "genuine, loving" person and not the "adult sociopath masquerading as a child" she was made out to be.

Natalia told Dr.Phil that Michael and Kristine left her alone in an apartment when she was eight years old and claimed that they told her to tell people she was older and had been lying about her age.

In the documentary, Natalia took a DNA test that solved the big question of how old she was when Michael and Kristine abandoned her. The results showed that she was 22, meaning she was an eight-year-old minor when the Barnetts left her to live alone.

In the clip, the 22-year-old was crying and looked relieved to have the truth out. Natalia emphasized that she had been dealing with the narrative Michael and Kristine created about her for 13 years. Still, Natalia had the support of her new family throughout the process.

Here is a story about another parent who adopted a non-English speaking child, only to discover a shocking secret once she started learning how to communicate.