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Natalia Grace has denied physically abusing her adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett.
The 21-year-old, who was born with dwarfism, spoke out about the downfall of her relationship with the Barnetts in a new interview published on Friday (January 3). In 2010, the then-six-year-old girl from Ukraine was adopted by Kristine and Michael, who were based in Indiana and already had three children.
Grace’s family life quickly fell apart with questions about her true age from her adoptive parents, who successfully petitioned in 2012 to alter her birth date from 2003 to 1989, raising her age to 22. The change was seemingly based on evidence including the fact that she hadn’t grown in two years. One year later, Michael and Kristine moved to Canada with their three children, put Grace into her apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, and stopped contacting her.
In a 2023 docuseries, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, Kristine and Michael accused Grace of hurting them, with claims that she threatened them with knives, terrorized the couple’s youngest son, and allegedly tried to poison Kristine’s coffee. The Barnetts also said professionals told them Natalia was a sociopath and that their family was in danger.
Now, Grace has publicly refuted their remarks in the interview with People.
“I feel like I have to defend myself and be like, ‘Do I look like somebody that could push someone twice my size into a fence? Do I look like I could even grip a knife?” she explained, referring to her rare medical condition, which makes it difficult for her to move her fingers.
“I feel like I was brainwashed by the Barnetts,” she continued. “Kristine coached me to lie about my age and say I tried to murder my parents. Why would you do that to your child?”
After leaving Grace in Lafayette, Michael stood trial on neglect charges in October 2022. Natalia herself testified, detailing how a Lafayette family had taken her in and taught her life skills she’d never learned under the Barnetts, such as how to read, write, and wash her hair.
Michael was found not guilty of three neglect charges and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent. Charges against Kristine were dropped in March 2023.
Grace has also opened up about the intense criticism she’s faced since the release of the docuseries, including people claiming that she was “fake,” a “liar”, and “a pedophile.”
“I’m also known for the little girl that was helpless and was beaten and starved and all that,” she told People. “That’s not who I am. But that seems to be the only thing that people know — and that’s why it hurts me a lot.”
She reflected on the Barnetts leaving her in the apartment in Lafayette and how she struggled to reach counters in her kitchen because of her dwarfism.
“I really disliked being the girl who was re-aged and lived in her own apartment,” she explained. “I didn’t understand why I was alone. I just knew I had this instinct in me to push and survive. All I was told was, ‘You’re 22 now. Whenever somebody asks you what your age is, you say you’re 22 and you tried to murder your family.’ I was taught to lie.”
One month after living alone in Lafayette, she moved in with Cynthia Man and her husband, Christopher “Antwon” Mans, and their 10 children. While she was initially charged $250 a month for rent, she was legally adopted by Cynthia and her husband in 2023. By then, she’d also gone through some extensive medical tests and had her age restored with the birth year of 2003.
However, as Grace helped care for her younger siblings and adopted a religious lifestyle, her parents had an issue with her love life and independence. In The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, Antown said he discovered in 2023 that Grace was exchanging messages with a man named Neil on Facebook, which allegedly included sexually explicit videos and photos. As a result, Antown took Natalia’s phone away.
In 2023, Grace turned to her boyfriend Neil for help and decided to leave the Manes. She left home three days before Christmas that year, and her friend Nicole DePaul, who tried to adopt her in 2009, moved her into her home in New York. Her departure from the Manes will also be featured in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter, with the first episode of the season airing on January 6 on Max.
“Once I got in [Nicole’s] car, I had to text my mom to let her know I wasn’t kidnapped or dead,” she explained. “It was an emotional time. I had to spread my wings.”
