Natalia Grace Barnett is a Ukrainian-born American adoptee whose age has been disputed. Natalia's original Ukrainian birth certificate indicates she was born on September 4th, 2003. However, in 2012, Natalia's adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, petitioned the court to change Natalia's birth records to indicate a 1989 birth date, which legally changed Natalia's age from 8 to 22. The Barnetts then left Natalia alone in an apartment. Prosecutors for the neglect case against the Barnetts located Natalia's biological mother in Ukraine and obtained Ukrainian hospital and birth records which support Natalia's original 2003 birth date, although her current legal year of birth is still 1989. Natalia's life story is the subject of two television series including the 2023 Investigation Discovery series, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, and the upcoming Hulu TV series, Untitled Orphan Project.

Life 
Natalia Grace was born in Ukraine on September 4, 2003 to Anna Volodymyrivna Gava of Mykolaiv. After birth, she was placed in an orphanage in Ukraine. 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. 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 Lafeyette apartment. Shortly after being left alone in the Lafayette apartment, Natalia was invited to live with Antwon and Cynthia Mans, who noticed that Natalia struggled to live on her own. The Barnetts were charged with neglect of a dependent but were later found not guilty. 

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 4th, 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.

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 Mans said that Natalia has not exhibited sociopathic behavior while living in their home.  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. Her story is the basis of the upcoming Hulu TV series, Untitled Orphan Project.

See also 

 International adoption

References

External links

1989 births
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Ukrainian emigrants to the United States
American adoptees
Naturalized citizens of the United States
People from Westfield, Indiana
People from Lafayette, Indiana
People with dwarfism
21st-century American women
Age controversies