- The new installment of the documentary will begin airing on January 1
- Viewers will finally learn the answer to the now-decade old question of Ukrainian-adoptee Natalia Grace’s age
Ukrainian dwarf Natalia Grace’s true age will finally be revealed in a documentary this week – after her adoptive parents claimed she was 22 years-old, not six.
Natalia was famously accused of being an adult sociopath with dwarfism who posed as a young child for her adoptive parents Michael and Kristine Barnett, an Indiana couple took her in back in 2010.
The first installment of the ID Discovery series, ‘The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,’ was watched by more than 10milion people.
The next installment, which will begin airing January 1, will finally reveal exactly how old Natalia really is through sophisticated DNA testing.
‘I’m pretty confident that people will conclude what her age is, probably after two episodes,’ said Beth Karas, a legal analyst who appears in the series.
Natalia’s age has been a big question for years since her original adoptive parents alleged she was much older than they’d originally thought and successfully petitioned to have her ‘re-aged’ so that they could abandon her and move countries.
In July of 2013, the Barnetts left Natalia alone in an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, while the family moved to Canada. Both parents were later charged with counts of neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury – the cases were, however, dismissed.
In the second half of the ID Discovery series, the truth will be revealed about Natalia’s age. The Ukrainian-born American-adoptee claims she was born in 2003 and is now 20.
‘I was six years old when they adopted me. But the Barnetts did a petition to change my age to 22 years old. I literally lost my childhood,’ she said.
‘The Barnetts tried to paint me as this big monster, they claimed I’m lying about my age.’
Karas said that, without wishing to disclose her personal opinion, ‘I think that the age issue is now settled given information that we now have that the court who re-aged her did not have.’
She went on to hint that Natalia was telling the truth, saying: ‘We get answers to questions in the second season, we have backup corroboration, it’s not just like Natalia’s word against Michael’s.’
‘This is my side of the story,’ Natalia said in a series promo, adding, ‘Do I look like a monster to you?
‘The things that Kristine and Michael have said that I’ve done is a lie. It was all copied off the movie Orphan. Ukrainian girl, Russian girl, check, orphan, check, all this crazy stuff … standing by the end of the bed with a knife. Check.’
‘Orphan’ is a 2009 horror film that followed the story of a couple who adopted a nine-year old who turned out who be a psychopath who endangered their family.
She also vows to address some of the wild accusations that have been leveled at her, including that she tried to kill her adoptive family.
‘In every lie is a hidden truth, but you gotta dig enough to see it,’ she added. ‘They are not going to get away with this.’
Natalia Gracie also states she ‘lost her childhood’ after the Barnetts petitioned a judge to change her legal age to 22.
The documentary will feature previously unseen evidence and footage, as well as new theories and testimony from an array of voices, including the retired FBI agents who initially investigated Natalia’s case, genetic experts who help determine Natalia’s true age, and the Tippecanoe County Deputy Prosecutor Jackie Starbuck who prosecuted Barnett in his October 2022 trial.
The Barnetts were taken into custody in 2019 on child neglect charges after they abandoned Natalia in an Indiana apartment while they moved to Canada after changing her age.
Michael was acquitted of the charges in October, while Kristine had her case dismissed in March, just three weeks before her trial.
Cynthia Mans, Natalia’s new adoptive mom, claims Michael ‘smirked’ at her when found not guilty.
‘It was like watching my daughter be raped,’ Mans says in the documentary. ‘There was no justice served, if I could have caught Kristine in an alley and put a black hoodie on I would have busted her upside the head.’
The saga of Natalia’s adoption has generated global headlines in recent years amid the documentary and the arrests of her former adoptive parents.
The couple adopted Natalia in April 2010, believing they were taking home a six-year-old child.
But their dream adoption quickly turned into a nightmare when they realized she may not be who she had claimed, and they suspected she was a menacing adult masquerading as a child.
Just a year later they left Natalia in a Lafayette, Indiana, apartment while they fled north, claiming she had tried to kill them.
‘She tried to poison and kill my wife,’ Michael claimed. ‘(And) one night, I opened my eyes and Natalia is standing at the foot of the bed with a knife in her hand.’
Kristine, who is accused of abusing Natalia in the bombshell documentary, told DailyMail.com in 2019 that her family were terrorized by the Ukrainian in the months after they adopted her.
She alleged Natalia threatened to stab the family in their sleep, pushed her towards an electric fence, and poured bleach in her coffee.
‘She would make statements and draw pictures saying she wanted to kill family members, roll them up in a blanket and put them in the backyard,’ she told DailyMailTV.
‘She was standing over people in the middle of the night. You couldn’t go to sleep. We had to hide all the sharp objects.
‘I saw her putting chemicals, bleach, Windex something like that, in my coffee and I asked her, “What are you doing?” She said, “I am trying to poison you.”
‘The media is painting me to be a child abuser but there is no child here,’ said Barnett.
However, Natalia branded her former adoptive parents ‘liars’ and claimed they had tried to make her out to be a ‘crazy person’.
In 2012, a petition launched by the family at probate court was granted and a judge legally changed her birth date from 2003 to 1989 on her Ukrainian birth document.
After the couple was granted their petition, they decided to move her into the apartment in Lafayette – three counties away from where they lived – while they moved to Canada.
Later in court, Natalia would testify that sustained herself mostly on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Ramen Noodles and an occasional pizza. She said she had limited use of her hands and arms, and struggled to open canned food.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
