via ID  

DNA Test Seemingly Confirms Orphan Natalia Grace’s Real Age

The world has become enthralled with Natalia Grace’s story in recent years.

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  via ID  

Grace is a Ukrainian-born American with a rare form of dwarfism, who was adopted by an American family in 2010.

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  via TIPPECANOE COUNTY JAIL  

Her adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, gained international attention when they voiced their concerns about Natalia’s real age.

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  via Getty Images  

Shortly after they adopted her, the Barnetts became suspicious of her age, leading to accusations that Natalia was merely posing as a child.

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  via DR. PHIL/ YOUTUBE  

Grace–who has a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita–was accused of being a grown woman posing as a child.

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Still, a lot of the accusations the Barnetts made against their adoptive daughter were a lot more sinister.

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  via Getty Images  

Michael and Kristine had also made claims that Natalia tried to harm them and their biological children.

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  via Getty  
Coffee machine pouring out espresso, close-up.

The couple accused her of trying to poison Kristine’s coffee and kill her by dragging her towards an electric fence. 

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  via Getty  
Upturned brass tack / drawing pin sat on a white surface, on white background, cut out

Natalia was also accused of placing clear thumb tacks on the stairs, face up, so that her adopted family would step on them.

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In 2019, Michael told Good Morning America that doctors allegedly treating Natalia told them “this person is a sociopath. This person is a con artist. You are all in danger.”

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  via The Curious Case of Natalia Grace  

In 2012, just two years after they adopted Natalia, the Barnetts petitioned Marion County Probate Court to have her age legally changed to 22, which would change her birth year from 2003 to 1989.

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  via Investigation Discovery/YouTube  

Convinced she was actually an adult woman, the following year, the couple and their three sons moved to Canada without Natalia.

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  via Investigation Discovery  

As a result, the Barnetts were charged with neglect of a dependent.

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  via Getty Images  

However, brosecutors weren’t able to charge the couple with neglect of a child because of Natalia’s court-ordered age change to 22.

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Now, years after this story went viral, a new series on the subject, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, has been released.

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In the docuseries, Natalia takes a DNA test, which presumably proves her real age.

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  via Getty Images  

This test seemingly proves that Natalia was, in fact, a child when she was adopted by Michael and Kristine.

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The blood test, conducted by the medical lab TruDiagnostic, revealed that Natalia is approximately 22 years old.

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  via Getty Images  

This suggests that she was 9 years old when she was adopted by Indiana couple.

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  via Getty Images  

At the time of the lab work, which was conducted in Aug. 2023, Natalia believed she was around 20 years old.

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  via Getty Images  

“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 premiere episode.

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  via Getty Images  

“This is so big. Because literally, this has been 13 years of just two people lying their butts off,” she continued.

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  via Getty Images  

“They ruined a kid’s life,” Natalia insisted. “They painted [me] as some big monster.”

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  via Getty Images  

“It just proves that I was not lying about my age,” she continued.

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  via Getty Images  

“They ignored everything that was pointing to the truth just so they could create this stupid lie,” Natalia said. “They knew it and they still did what they did.”

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