Natalia Grace: Who she is and why she confronted her adoptive father
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — The docuseries “The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace” took viewers by storm and now the person at the center of it is having her say.
The ID series (ID is owned by CNN’s parent company) explored the bizarre tale of an American couple who allege the girl they adopted from Ukraine in 2010 was actually an adult little person who they say wrecked havoc in their lives.
The story reminded some viewers of the 2009 horror film “Orphan,” in which a woman with stunted growth poses as 9-year-old child who is adopted by unsuspecting parents.
Now a new series, “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks,” tells the story from Natalia’s perspective and she takes on her adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett.
Here’s what you need to know to be caught up for the new show:
How it happened
The Barnetts were a seemingly happy, middle class family with three sons when they decided to expand their family by adopting a 6-year-old girl from Ukraine. Natalia has rare dwarfism condition known as spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita.
The Barnetts hoped that she would become a loving part of their family, but soon became suspicious about her actual age.
What happened
The family claimed that rather than the young child they believed they were adopting, she was an adult “sociopath.”
“She tried to poison and kill my wife,” Michael Barnett said in “The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace.”
They alleged several instances of Natalia trying to harm them and their other children.
Kristine Barnett did not participate in the original documentary.
In 2012, the parents successfully had the courts change Natalia’s legal age from eight to 22. They moved her out of the family home and into her own apartment.
Following an investigation, the Barnetts, who have since divorced, were charged with child neglect. However, Michael Barnett was reportedly acquitted in 2022 and charges against his former wife were dropped the following year.
Where are we now
Natlia Grace was eventually taken in by Antwon and Cynthia Mans, a couple who befriended her, and she’s now ready to share her side of what she says really happened.
She has denied the allegations made by her adoptive parents and asserted that she was a child when she was adopted.
A clip from the new documentary shows a now adult Natalia Grace confronting Michael Barnett and asking, “Why did you adopt me in the first place?”
“Many of these questions there’s not going to be a single answer to,” he says before going on to tell his adopted daughter that they were both victims of the same “monster,” his ex-wife and her adoptive mother.
CNN has reached out to Kristine Barnett for comment.
The clip from the new docuseries ends with Barnett walking off after things got tense when Antwon Mans, who is a minister, asks Barnett to respect their space and not curse during the conversation.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks” is streaming on Max.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
