Natalia Speaks, ID’s new installment of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, will tell the story from a different perspective this time. The six-part documentary series premieres on January 1, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. The episodes will air over three consecutive days.
According to the New York Post, Natalia Grace will address accusations made by her former adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett. The Indiana couple, who have since divorced, adopted Natalia in April 2010, believing the Ukrainian orphan was six years old.
However, two years later, the Barnetts petitioned to change Natalia’s birth year from 2003 to 1989. A court then formally changed her age from 8 years old to 22. She reportedly has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita.
The girl’s former adoptive parents also alleged that she tried to harm them and their biological children. They accused her of trying to poison Kristine’s coffee and looming over them with a knife in hand while they slept.
Natalia Grace’s age: How old is the Ukrainian orphan now?
New York Post stated that Natalia Grace is supposedly 19 or 20 years old now and has denied the accusations brought up by Michael and Kristine Barnett. These included their claims that she was “masquerading” as a child despite allegedly being an adult. They also accused her of emotionally and physically abusing them while pretending to be a six-year-old girl.
The outlet reported that within six months after the adoption, the Barnetts allegedly started to witness her violent behavior. This made them suspicious about her real age. The alleged violent behavior, according to Michael Barnett, included hoarding knives in her room and urinating on her adoptive siblings. They alleged she even tried to poison her adoptive mother on one occasion. Natalia allegedly showed physical signs of being much older than a toddler, according to Entertainment Tonight.
After successfully petitioning to have Natalia’s birth year changed from 2003 to 1989, the Barnetts moved to Canada. They also took their biological children, leaving the adopted girl behind in an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, the following year. The girl lived alone in the apartment, which led to an investigation and the Barnetts’ subsequent arrests.
In 2019, prosecutors formally charged the now-divorced Barnetts with neglect of a dependent for abandoning Natalia Grace. Michael was found not guilty of three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent in 2022. Meanwhile, the charges against Kristine were dropped in March 2023.
Reportedly, another Indiana couple, Bishop Antwon and Cynthia Manns, took in Natalia in 2014. They unsuccessfully applied for legal guardianship in 2016, maintaining that she was a teenager at the time. The Manns later appeared on Dr. Phil and claimed that they never experienced any form of abuse from the girl.
Following her appearance in the 2019 Dr. Phil episode, the Ukrainian orphan also testified at Michael’s trial. Sources state that she hasn’t made public appearances since then but continues to live in Indiana.
Natalia Grace will be speaking out for the first time in a while in ID’s Natalia Speaks. The six-part series premieres on January 1, 2024.
