Natalia Grace Case: DNA Test Reveals Ukrainian Orphan’s Real Age

A DNA test confirmed the real age of Natalia Grace, the orphan accused of attempting to harm her adoptive parents, in the ID docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks.Natalia Grace Docuseries Reveals Her Real Age

Natalia Grace is feeling vindicated.

In the newly released ID docuseries, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, the Ukrainian orphan—who was adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett in 2010—detailed her experience with the Barnetts and the subsequent aftermath of her adoption.

Though the former couple alleged that Natalia—who has spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a rare genetic disorder—was not a young girl at the time of her adoption, but rather an adult with dangerous tendencies, Natalia has long maintained that she was truly a child when she began living with the Barnetts.

And in the premiere episode of the docuseries, a DNA test conducted by a medical lab concluded Natalia was around 22 years old as of August 2023, indicating that she would’ve been approximately 9 years old when she moved in with her adoptive parents.

“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 the first episode of the multi-part series. “This is so big. Because literally, this has been 13 years of just two people lying their butts off. They ruined a kid’s life. They painted [me] as some big monster.”

The Ukraine native noted that the results “just proves that I was not lying about my age.”

“They ignored everything that was pointing to the truth just so they could create this stupid lie,” she continued, referring to Michael and Kristine. “They knew it and they still did what they did.”

Investigation Discovery

After accusing her of attempting to harm them on several different occasions, in 2012, the Barnetts petitioned a court to change Natalia’s birth year from 2003 to 1989, making her 20 years old when they adopted her.

The following year, Michael and Kristine subsequently moved with their three sons to Canada, leaving Natalia to live by herself in an apartment in Lafayette, Ind.

Six years later, the former couple—who finalized their divorce in 2018—were brought up on charges in connection to their move. Michael was found not guilty on his charges in 2022, while prosecutors dropped their case against his ex-wife in March 2023.

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