Where Natalia Grace is now, the 'adopted child' who turned out to be 22-year-old woman

The renewed interest in the mind-blowing adoption scandal surrounding Natalia Grace thanks to a recent documentary has led people to wonder where she is now.

Ukrainian ‘child’, Natalia Grace, was adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett back in 2010, believing she was a six-year-old with a rare bone growth disorder.

Over time, it soon became clear that Natalia was not a child at all, due to her strange behaviour including one shocking moment where she allegedly threatened to kill her adoptive mother and brandished a knife at the foot of her parents’ bed while they slept.

It emerged that Natalia actually has a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal, and was not a child at all, with a judge determining she was an adult woman aged 22.

Investigation Discovery

The shocking true story has been turned into six-part documentary, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, which explores the Barnetts’ accusations of Natalia being a fraudulent 'adult sociopath masquerading as a child'.

There’s also a follow-up documentary, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, in which Natalia gives her side of the story.

Natalia’s adoptive parents had her legal age changed from six to 22 years old in 2013, the same year they left her behind in an apartment building in Lafayette, Indiana while they moved to Canada.

Michael and Kristine paid for the first three months of her rent upfront and allegedly gave her all the furniture she needed plus groceries.

It didn’t take long for Natalia to make quite the impression on her neighbours, with residents calling Natalia a ‘pest’ and said she acted strangely around men and young boys.

Both of the Barnetts were charged with neglect in September 2019, with Michael going to trial in February 2022 over charges of neglect of a dependent, neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury, neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury and conspiracy to neglect a dependent.

Investigation Discovery

He was eventually found not guilty and the charges against Kristine, who is now divorced from Michael, were dropped in 2023, weeks before the trial was due to begin in March.

So, where is Natalia now? After being left behind by the Barnetts, she was eventually taken in by another couple, Antwon Mans and Cynthia Mans in 2014. They applied to become her legal guardians two years later but were denied. They were convinced Natalia was a teenager at the time.

Since testifying in her former adoptive dad’s trial, Natalia hasn’t been seen much in the public eye.

A Ukrainian woman named Anna Volodymyrivna Gava came forward and said she is Natalia’s birth mother.

Investigation Discovery

In episode five, Gava is interviewed by police as part of a neglect of the dependent case against the Barnetts and is required to prove she is the birth mother via DNA test.

Three years after proving they are related, she explains how she herself was born in 1979, before revealing her daughter’s date of birth.

“She was born on September 4th 2003,” Gava says.

“She was born at 6.25am in the Maternity Hospital No. 1. She is my biological daughter.”

This would place Natalia's age today at 19 years and nine months.

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks is set to air this summer.

Topics: News, TV And Film, True Crime, Real Life, Natalia Grace

Gregory Robinson

Gregory is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, he has worked for both print and online publications and is particularly interested in TV, (pop) music and lifestyle. He loves Madonna, teen dramas from the '90s and prefers tea over coffee.