Where Is Natalia Grace Now? Inside Her Captivating Adoption Case and Life Today — Including Shocking Twist

The story of Natalia Grace is one that’s stranger than fiction.

Natalia, a Ukrainian orphan with a rare form of dwarfism, first made headlines in 2019 after her former adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, were charged with multiple counts of neglecting a dependent. The charges resulted after a five-year investigation revealed that the Indiana couple, who adopted Natalia as a 6-year-old in 2010, had moved her into an apartment in July 2013 — and then moved to Canada with their three other children.

Following the charges, the Barnetts shared their side of the story: The couple alleged that Natalia was an adult masquerading as a child. In 2012, they had Natalia's birth year legally changed from 2003 to 1989, which would have made her 22 years old — but the Barnetts believed she may have been as old as 33, Michael revealed on Good Morning America in 2019.

The Barnetts also claimed that Natalia — who they called a “con artist” and a “sociopath” — was determined to harm their family. Over the two years that she spent with the Barnetts, the couple alleged that she had tried to poison Kristine’s coffee, attempted to drag her towards an electric fence and would place clear thumbtacks face-up on the stairs so that they could step on them.

Michael detailed more of the threats he and his ex-wife (the couple split in 2014) allegedly faced from Natalia in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, a three-part docuseries that premiered on ID in May 2023.

“She threatened to stab my sons, drag their bodies outside and bury them underneath the deck,” Michael said in the documentary.

He added, “I promise you within five years someone is dead.”

But Natalia, who has consistently denied all of the Barnetts’ accusations, is speaking out in her own documentary: The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks. The six-hour ID docuseries debuted on Jan. 1, and will air over three consecutive nights.

“In every lie is a hidden truth, but you’ve gotta dig enough to be able to see it,” Natalia said in the docuseries. “They’re not going to get away with this. This is my side of the story.”

She continued, “Do I look like a monster to you?”

From her origins in Ukraine to the latest in her adoption saga, here is everything to know about Natalia Grace.

Who is Natalia Grace?

Natalia Grace is a Ukrainian orphan who arrived in the United States in 2008. Natalia, who has a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, lived with several different foster families before being adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett in 2010.

At the time, the Indiana couple believed they were adopting a 6-year-old girl — but the Barnetts soon became suspicious of her age, with the couple alleging that Natalia had pubic hair, adult teeth and was menstruating, ID reported. In 2012, the Barnetts petitioned Marion County Probate Court to legally change Natalia's age from 8 to 22, changing her birth year from 2003 to 1989. The following year, the family moved Natalia into an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana — before moving with their three sons to Canada and cutting off contact with Natalia.

Natalia’s story grabbed the attention of the public in 2019 when Indiana prosecutors leveled charges against the Barnetts for neglecting a dependent. Michael and Kristine subsequently revealed to multiple news outlets that they believed Natalia to be an adult posing as a child — and that she had intended to bring harm against their family.

“It’s obvious that her records were falsified. This is an adult masquerading as a child,” Michael said in a November 2019 appearance on Dr. Oz’s True Crime show. “We took her to the stress center to have her evaluated that she is having thoughts of harming others, and she is stating out loud that she is attempting to kill Kristine.”

Natalia, however, has denied their claims and maintained that she was a child when the Barnetts adopted her.

Where is Natalia Grace now?

Natalia has been living with another Indiana couple, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, and their children, since 2013, according to the Lafayette Journal and Courier. Natalia reportedly met Cynthia after the Barnetts moved her into an apartment in Lafayette. Cynthia invited Natalia to move in with them just days after their first meeting.

In 2016, the Mans petitioned to become Natalia’s legal guardians; however, a hearing was required to determine whether Natalia was a minor or a legal adult. After a judge maintained that Natalia was legally an adult, the Mans dropped the guardianship petition — but Natalia has continued to live with the family in the years since.

In the wake of Natalia’s legal battle with the Barnetts and the subsequent media attention, Cynthia and Antwon have stood by her. In 2019, the couple appeared alongside Natalia on Dr. Phil, reaffirming to Dr. Phil that she was a minor and had never exhibited any violent behavior towards anyone in their family. Cynthia also testified on Natalia’s behalf in 2022 at Michael Barnett’s trial.

Natalia Grace was adopted by the Mans in 2023, but what had seemed like a happy ending was undone by a shocking plot twist at the end of the last episode of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks.

The show revealed that two weeks ago, the producers of a show received a troubling phone call from Antwon Mans.

“Something ain’t right with Natalia,” begins Antwon. “This girl is tweaking.”

“I feel like she’s the enemy in the house,” he adds.

“And she said to us, we have held her hostage. Made us look like we’re the enemy.”

Cynthia Mans then says on the call, “Natalia is stabbing her family in the back, over a complete lie!”

Antwon adds, “She’s done other things too, but this was a new low. Natalia does not have emotions for nothing but herself.”

“We’re done,” Antwon adds. “We’re done with her.” 

What happened to Michael and Kristine Barnett?

In 2013, the Barnetts moved to Canada for their then-15-year-old son Jacob to pursue graduate studies in physics. Jacob, who has autism, was previously featured on a 2012 60 Minutes episode for being a math and science prodigy and was the subject of Kristine’s 2013 memoir The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism.

However, Michael moved back to Indianapolis from Canada in the fall of 2013, according to the Journal and Courier. He filed for divorce from Kristine in February 2014 after nearly 20 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in 2018.

In September 2019, Michael and Kristine were charged with multiple counts of neglecting a dependent for leaving Natalia in an apartment solo while they moved to Canada. Though an Indiana judge dismissed the charges alleging neglect based on Natalia’s age, prosecutors were able to bring charges against the former couple for neglect based on Natalia’s disabling dwarfism, the Journal and Courier reported.

However, Michael was found not guilty in October 2022, and Kristine's charges were dismissed in March 2023.

What has Natalia Grace said about Michael and Kristine Barnett?

Despite the drama surrounding her adoption, Natalia Grace has spoken positively about Michael and Kristine. The Ukrainian native revealed to Dr. Phil in 2019 that she felt loved and accepted by the Barnetts and was happy in their home.

“I actually thought I had found the right family after bouncing around ... I thought I had found the right family for me,” she said to Dr. Phil.

At Michael’s trial in October 2022, Natalia also testified that she did not want to move into her own apartment and wanted to remain living with the Barnetts.

“I wanted to be with the Barnetts,” she said on the stand, according to the Journal and Courier. “I wanted to live with them.

But Natalia has also refuted Michael and Kristine’s claims that she lied about her age and was trying to harm them and their children. She opened up about her side of the story in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, which premiered Jan. 1 on ID.

“This is my side of the story, and I’m going to say what happened because I never got a chance to say what happened,” she said in a preview clip from the documentary.

She continued, “I’m hearing all this stuff that never actually happened from Kristine and Michael. It’s shocking and it’s frustrating because that’s not true. And, people are believing what Kristine and Michael are saying without even hearing my side.”

How old is Natalia Grace now?

According to the Mans’ family Instagram account, Natalia celebrated her 20th birthday on Sept. 4, 2023 (going by the birth year originally listed on Natalia’s Ukrainian birth certificate). However, her updated birth date of Sept. 4, 1989, would make Natalia currently 34 years old.

A blood test conducted by the medical lab TruDiagnostic in August 2023 revealed that Natalia is approximately 22 years old, which suggests she was a child when the Barnetts adopted her. At the time of the lab work, Natalia believed she was about 20 years old.

“This one little piece of paper throws every single lie that the Barnetts has said right into the trash with a match,” Natalia said in a January 2024 episode of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, adding, "It just proves that I was not lying about my age."

Did Natalia Grace inspire the 2009 film The Orphan?

Natalia Grace’s ordeal bears several similarities to the 2009 horror movie The Orphan, which starred Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard. In the film, a couple adopts a 9-year-old Russian girl named Esther — but soon discovers she is a 33-year-old serial killer who has been posing as a child. However, Natalia wasn’t adopted by the Barnetts until 2010, a year after The Orphan premiered.

While Natalia’s story didn’t inspire the film, Dr. Phil pointed out the similarities between the horror flick’s plot and the Barnetts' claims against her.

“If Kristine made all of this up, she wasn’t very creative,” Dr. Phil said while interviewing Natalia in 2019. “She tore it from this movie.”

Cynthia Mans, the woman who Natalia has lived with since 2013, agreed with Dr. Phil’s sentiment and called attention to the coincidental timing between the movie and what happened to Natalia.

“The Orphan came out one year before they did this to her,” Cynthia said.