Natalia Grace (Barnett) Mans (born September 4, 2003) is a Ukrainian-born American with dwarfism, who, in 2010, was adopted by an American family but abandoned by them two years later. Barnett's adoptive parents claimed that Barnett was a legal adult, and, in 2012, they successfully sought a court order legally changing her birth year from 2003 to 1989.[1] However, through an August 2023 DNA test, the health testing company TruDiagnostic estimated that Grace was about 22 years old, meaning she was around 9 years old when her adoptive parents abandoned her.[2] [3] Barnett is the subject of two television series, the 2023–2024 series The Curious Case of Natalia Grace (re-titled to The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks for season 2) and the upcoming Hulu TV series Orphan.
Natalia Grace was born in Ukraine to Anna Volodymyrivna Gava of Mykolaiv.[4] [5] [6] After birth, she was placed in an orphanage in Ukraine.[7] She was diagnosed with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a rare form of dwarfism. She came to the United States as an adoptee and was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett in the spring of 2010. Natalia had a previous adoptive placement in the United States and multiple temporary placements prior to her adoption by the Barnetts.[8] She took the name Natalia Grace Barnett.
In 2012, the Barnetts successfully petitioned the Marion County court to change Natalia's Ukrainian birth records to indicate a 1989 birth date, which legally changed her age from 8 to 22. In July 2013, the Barnetts moved Natalia to an apartment in Westfield, Indiana, and later Lafayette, Indiana. The Barnetts then moved along with their biological children to Canada, leaving Natalia alone in the Lafayette apartment. Shortly after being left alone in the Lafayette apartment, Natalia was invited to live with Bishop Antwon and Cynthia Mans, who noticed that Natalia struggled to live on her own.[9] The Barnetts were charged with neglect of a dependent but Michael was later found not guilty.[10]
The prosecutors for the neglect case against the Barnetts were able to locate Natalia's birth mother in Ukraine. Natalia's mother was identified as Anna Volodymyrivna Gava who was born April 20, 1979, in Latvia. DNA testing confirmed Gava as Natalia's biological mother. If Natalia's court-assigned birth date of 1989 were correct, Gava would have given birth to Natalia at 10 years of age. The prosecutors also obtained birth and hospital records from Ukraine which support Natalia's original September 4, 2003, birth date. The prosecutors were barred from presenting the evidence that Natalia was a minor child born in 2003 when she was left to live alone in an apartment, and the neglect case was tried based on Natalia's disability, not her age.[11] [12] [13]
Cynthia Mans, who took Natalia in after discovering her abandoned in the Lafayette apartment, said she believed that Kristine Barnett was inspired to legally change Natalia's age by the 2009 film Orphan. The Barnetts claimed that Natalia was lying about her age and also exhibited sociopathic behavior which is similar to the plot of that film. The Manses said that Natalia has not exhibited sociopathic behavior while living in their home.[14] [15] [16] In 2019, Natalia was on an episode of Dr. Phil. Her life is the subject of the 2023 Investigation Discovery series The Curious Case of Natalia Grace (re-titled to The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks for season 2). Her story is the basis of the upcoming Hulu TV series Orphan.[17] [18]