How Old Is Natalia Grace? Her Real Age Revealed in New Docuseries Amid Controvery

The former Ukrainian orphan’s real age has been revealed, as her adoptive mother claps back at the claims she made in the docuseries.

Natalia Grace’s real age has been the subject of much speculation before the release of her docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks. The former Ukrainian orphan opened up about her adoption story and claimed that her adoptive family was abusive towards her in the documentary. She was born with a rare genetic disorder called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, which makes her physical stature smaller. Her adoptive family accused her of posing as a young girl and attempting to kill them in the original docuseries. Since the original documentary about the family was released, many viewers have been curious about Natalia’s age, and the new series finally reveals her age with DNA testing.

After the release of the follow-up, Natalia’s adoptive mother Kristine Barnett released a statement clapping back at Natalia’s claims that the family was abusive. In the post, she also spoke about the process of getting her former stepdaughter’s age adjusted. Find out more about Natalia and her real age here.

Who Is Natalia Grace?

Natalia was a Ukrainian orphan, who was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett in 2010. The former couple split up in 2018. They said that they believed that Natalia was trying to harm them. Two years after she was adopted, Kristine and Michael successfully petitioned a local court to change Natalia’s birth year from 2003 to 1989, which would mean that she was 20 years old when she was adopted by the family. After changing her age, the family moved to Canada, but left Natalia to live alone in an apartment in Indiana in 2013.

Natalia was then taken in by her new adoptive parents Bishop Antown and Christina Manns, and the Barnetts were both charged with neglect. They were found not guilty and the case was dropped in 2023. The new docuseries features Natalia confronting the Barnetts, as well as a sitdown with Bishop and Christina.

What Did Natalia Say About the Barnetts in the New Docuseries?

In the docuseries, Natalia claimed that Kristine had pepper-sprayed her and beaten her with a belt, according to People. In a public Facebook post, Natalia’s former adoptive mother addressed many of the claims in the series. “Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family,” she wrote. “Let’s get straight to these allegations. Nobody ever took a belt to Natalia and the allegations that she was ‘beaten’ are just plain false. Any discipline of Natalia was very minimal and was not out of the bounds of normal parenting.”

Kristine also said that past allegations of abuse were “unfounded.” She also pointed toward the fact that her case was dismissed. “If there had been any abuse of Natalia or evidence of it, I would have been found guilty of it and I would be in jail,” she wrote.

What Is Natalia’s Real Age?

In 2012, the Barnetts had Natalia’s age legally changed from 2003 to 1989, which meant that at the time she was believed to be 23 years old, which would make her 34 now. Since then, a blood test has been performed by TruDiagnostic, that showed that Natalia’s age should not have been adjusted at all. The DNA test revealed that Natalia’s true age is currently about 22 years old, as of January 2024, per People. When Natalia’s age was shown in the docuseries, she showed that she felt vindicated by the result. “It just proves that I was not lying about my age,” she said. “They ignored everything that was pointing to the truth just so they could create this stupid lie. They knew it and they still did what they did.”

The Barnetts claimed that they had Natalia’s age changed after they claimed that she tried to harm them and their biological children. In her statement, Kristine expanded a bit on this. “A series of legal happenings based on Natalia’s own behaviors, statements, and much evidence led to her being re-aged at the recommendation of law enforcement,” she said. “As a result, she was allowed to make her own adult decisions of where to live and what to do with her life and time while living where she has. While Natalia did live independently as an adult she had very much support from our family and care and love until she decided to make the Manns her Medicaid payee and they became responsible for her medical care and her income. This was very upsetting to me at the time and I reported this to Adult Protective Services repeatedly because I was worried sick she was possibly being exploited for their rent money. Once the Manns were her payee and Natalia was a legal adult I had no real options at my disposal to be able to help and care for her which made me physically ill from worry about that fact.”

Despite Kristine’s claims, the documentary does assert that Natalia is about 22 years old.