Ukrainian dwarf Natalia Grace, who some believed was an adult posing as a six-year-old child after being adopted by an American family, is being profiled again as her newest parental figures turn against her.
Investigation Discovery’s latest documentary ‘The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter’ dropped its first trailer after Natalia’s second adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, abandoned her in 2012.
Natalia first came to the United States in 2008 and was placed with a couple who eventually sent her away for unknown reasons. In 2010, she was adopted by the Barnetts, who lived in Indiana.
Natalia was under the care of the Barnetts for two years. But shortly after joining the family, the couple claimed Natalia was a “sociopath” who threatened to kill them, stood over their bed at night with a knife and tried to poison Kristine.
They began to doubt the birth certificate that said she was born in 2003, which would have made her six years old when they adopted her. That’s because they said Natalia had grown pubic hair and started her period.
The Barnetts, who have three biological sons, successfully convinced a court in 2012 to legally change her date of birth to 1989, making her 22 years old. Soon after, they moved hundreds of miles away, leaving her in an apartment they rented for her in Lafayette, Indiana.
Natalia’s newest parents became a neighboring couple, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, who discovered she was living alone and took her in.
They once vigorously defended her, describing her as a “genuine and loving young lady,” but ID’s teaser shows Antwon telling producers, among other things, “Something isn’t right with Natalia.”
Natalia Grace, pictured, will soon be back in the spotlight. She rose to prominence after her second adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, abandoned her, claiming she was posing as an adult and making violent threats to them.
It seems that her third adoptive parents, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, had a falling out with Natalia. The finale of the Investigation Discovery documentary series is about how things turned sour
Antwon also seemed to suggest that Natalia may have a romantic interest.
“She has this guy online,” he said. ‘He turned her against us. She’s ready to go to hell with gas panties on.”
This comes after the Mans family said they were done with Natalia in a previous documentary finale that aired in January.
These little tidbits echo some of the accusations the Barnetts have made against Natalia, who was actually charged in 2019 with abandoning and endangering a dependent.
‘Natalia was a woman. She had menstruation. She had adult teeth. She never grew an inch, which would happen even to a child with dwarfism. The doctors all confirmed that she suffered from a serious mental illness that is only diagnosed in adults,” Kristine Barnett told DailyMail.com after she was charged.
A DNA test conducted this year showed that Natalia was almost 22 years old, making her less than 10 years old when she was with the Barnetts.
Natalia has long maintained that she was just a child when the Barnetts left her.
Despite this, Michael was acquitted in October 2022 and Kristine’s charges were dropped three weeks before her trial in March 2023.
Michael and Kristine Barnett (seen) have claimed Natalia was an adult “con artist” posing as a six-year-old orphan girl, but she has maintained she was a child all along.
Antwon was the one who initially said he was done with Natalia, even though he let her live with his family for years
Now, the trailer would suggest that Cynthia and Antwon Mans were in a similar situation to what the Barnetts once found themselves in.
Or maybe not. The trailer also showed people expressing concern that the Mans family was somehow abusing Natalia.
“Cynthia and Antwon know how to shut people up,” one woman said.
“They’re monsters behind closed doors,” one man said.
“I kept telling her you need to go before you get killed,” another man said, appearing to refer to Natalia.
“The Mans are a cult,” someone else claimed.
The Mans family started Natalia’s adoption process in 2016, which meant they had to prove she was a minor and restore her original date of birth.
The second season of the documentary revealed that she was adopted by the Mans family in 2023.
This man claimed that the Man family are monsters
This man said he told Natalia to leave the Mans family home ‘before you get killed’
Natalia (seen with the Mans family) said she is saving for ‘spine surgery’, adding she could become ‘paralysed’ if she doesn’t get the treatment soon
But that appears to have been a temporary living situation for Natalia, who revealed she was moving in a GoFundMe she posted in January to raise money for spinal surgery.
“I recently moved and am saving money to buy my own house so I can have my own place,” she wrote. ‘I want to start my own photography business to create a fun and amazing way to have fun and do what I love, which is taking photos and creating memories for myself and other people!’
She also explained that the spinal surgery she wants to have done is not covered by her health insurance and will cost “over $500,000.”
“I have a form of dwarfism called diastrophic dysplasia – a form of dwarfism that has many serious problems that often require surgery,” she wrote. ‘The first treatment I need is to correct my spine because if I leave it for too long it can lead to paralysis and incontinence.’
The last story of Natalia’s story is about the argument between her and the Mans family, which forced her to move in the first place.
‘The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter’ will premiere on ID in January 2025.