Family Adopted 6-Year-Old With Rare Dwarfism But Later Claimed She Was An Adult ‘Con Artist’

Aug 16, 2023

Natalia Grace Barnett has been making headlines ever since her former adoptive family claimed that she was a scam artist that exhibited sociopathic behavior. Natalia is said to have been born on Sept. 4, 2003, in Ukraine. However, she has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. People with this type of dwarfism are typically short-statured from birth and have a short trunk and neck and shortened limbs. However, their hands and feet are typically average-sized.

Kristine and Michael Barnett from Indiana adopted Natalia back in 2010 in Florida after her previous adoptive family suddenly gave her up after two years for undisclosed reasons. The Barnetts had little information about Natalia and had 24 hours to decide whether they would adopt her. Up until then, the only facts they knew about Natalia were that she was born in Ukraine in 2003 and had been in the United States since 2008. She was 6 years old at the time.

The Barnetts adopted the child but grew suspicious of their adoptive daughter when they noticed many things that seemed to be out of the ordinary for a girl of her alleged age. Kristine claimed Natalia seemed disinterested in playing with dolls and would instead prefer to hang around teenage girls. She would also allegedly use vocabulary deemed “too sophisticated” for a child her age. 

“Natalia was a woman. She had periods. She had adult teeth. She never grew a single inch, which would happen even with a child with dwarfism,” Kristine added. Michael said that her birth certificate was “bogus” and added, “She won't tell us the truth of who she is – we are living with a con artist and sociopath.”

As the Barnetts began to question Natalia’s story, Kristine claimed her behavior started to deteriorate. According to Entertainment Tonight, Michael and Barnett accused Natalia of trying to harm them and their kids and that Natalia tried to poison Kristine and tried to push Michael into an electric fence.

Eventually, the family had Natalia’s legal age changed from 6 to 22, and the Barnett family moved to Canada and left Natalia behind in Indiana. Michael and Kristine later divorced and were charged with abandoning Natalia before Michael was found not guilty in 2022, and charges against Kristine were dropped in 2023.

Since then, legal experts have called the case “unusual” because it was “so one-sided,” and argued that perhaps the Barnetts had an ulterior motive to re-age their adoptive child.

On the other side of the story, Natalia has stated that the Barnetts’ claims were fabricated.

"The things that Kristine and Michael have said that I have done is a lie. I have never done anything that Kristine and Michael have said that I have done," Natalia explained. She said that she was adopted by Antwon Mans and Cynthia Mans, who have said she is a teenager. In 2016, they became her legal guardians.

"You can ask anybody in my family now. You can ask Bishop Antwon and Cynthia Mans that – just ask them, 'Has she ever done anything?' They will tell you who I really am. They're not going to lie and neither am I," Natalia said.

Natalia’s story has been featured in several media outlets, including an interview with Dr. Phil and on Investigation Discovery with a documentary called “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace.”

What are your thoughts on this story? Do you believe Natalia Grace, or do you believe her former adoptive parents? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family and friends.