The 22-year-old woman who was falsely accused of posing as a child was overcome with emotion upon learning her true age.
Ukrainian-born Natalia Grace, who has a rare form of dwarfism, was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett from Indiana, USA, in 2010.
The young woman's story became a media sensation after it was spotlighted in a docuseries called The Curious Case of Natalia Grace by Investigation Discovery, which aired last year.
The documentary follows the Barnetts after they adopted a young girl from Ukraine in 2010, believing her to be six years old. However, they later grew suspicious of her behavior, accusing her of attempts to harm them and their biological children.
The pair claimed that Natalie was an adult woman with sinister intentions, and alleged that she tried to poison Kristine's coffee and kill her by dragging her towards an electric fence and placing clear thumbtacks on the stairs face up so that they would step on them, per Yahoo.
According to PEOPLE, in 2012, two years after adopting Natalia, Michael and Kristine petitioned Marion County Probate Court to legally change her age to 22, altering her birth year from 2003 to 1989. This claim, which would make her 34 years old, has always been denied by Natalia.
The following year, the Barnetts moved to Canada with their three sons, leaving Natalia alone in an apartment in Lafayette. They were then charged with neglect of a dependent before Michael was found not guilty of three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent in 2022, while charges against Kristine were dropped in March 2023.
Natalia Grace shared her side of the story in the ID series, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks.
In the documentary, the young woman expressed her desire for truth, stating: "I want you to know how old I am, I want you to know about my past because I want to know, too. I want the puzzle to be complete," cited by Today.
During the opening episode, Natalia Grace underwent medical and diagnostic tests at TruDiagnostics to determine her true biological age.
Dr. Halland Chen revealed the results, sharing: "Based on all the studies and everything being analyzed, you’re more [closer] to 22, which is pretty close to what you think… you’re almost 20. That’s two years," per The Independent.
Overwhelmed with emotion, the 22-year-old said: "This one little piece of paper throws every single lie that the Barnetts have said right into the trash with a match."
She expressed anger at the Barnetts for their false accusations and mistreatment. "They ruined a kid’s life. They painted me as some big monster when in reality they were the ones," Grace tearfully added, to which her adoptive father, Antwon Mans, agreed.
"It just proves that I was not lying about my age," Natalia Grace concluded.
If the doctor's assessment is correct, the woman would've been four years old when she arrived in the US from Ukraine. This means she was only seven when the Barnetts adopted her and just eight when they petitioned to change her age to 22.
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