Natalia Grace is a Ukrainian-born woman with dwarfism whose adoption story has been widely publicized and dramatized. She was adopted in 2010 by Kristine and Michael Barnett, an Indiana couple who initially believed she was a young child around six or seven years old. However, the Barnetts later claimed Natalia was an adult posing as a child and legally changed her birth year from 2003 to 1989 in 2012, asserting she was actually in her twenties. This led to a highly controversial situation where the Barnetts abandoned her in an apartment in 2013, after which they faced neglect charges, though Michael was acquitted and charges against Kristine were dismissed

. After leaving the Barnetts, Natalia was taken in by another adoptive family, the Mans family, in Tennessee. However, her relationship with the Mans family deteriorated amid allegations of strict religious parenting and physical abuse, including reports of her being whipped and confined. Natalia eventually fled the Mans household in late 2023 with the help of an online boyfriend and was taken in by Nicole and Vincent DePaul, a couple who had previously tried to adopt her. Since then, she has been living with the DePauls in upstate New York

. Currently, Natalia is studying for her GED, taking driving lessons, and hopes to become a school teacher. She has been diagnosed with anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, and reactive attachment disorder. Despite the hardships, she expresses a desire to be remembered as someone who overcame significant challenges and is now feeling a sense of freedom

. In summary, Natalia Grace's life has been marked by a complex and controversial adoption history, legal battles over her age, allegations of abuse, and ultimately a move toward stability and personal growth with her current guardians.