With The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter currently airing, one pertinent question remains: what is Natalia Grace’s real age? It’s been the subject of much debate over the years, but the documentary finally gave us the answer.
ID’s The Curious Case of Natalia Grace left viewers in shock when it dropped in 2023. The six-episode docu-series delved into the stranger-than-fiction story consisting of two conflicting accounts from Natalia and her former adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett.
While Natalia Speaks confirmed many of our suspicions, her story was far from over, as was revealed right at the end with the shocking revelation that her new adoptive guardians, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, were “done” with Natalia. The allegations against the Manses and Natalia’s escape are the focus of the new third chapter.
The Barnetts only get a passing mention in The Final Chapter, but their actions continue to reverberate throughout Natalia’s life. Notably, in 2012, they had her legal age changed from eight to 22, allowing them to move her into a home on her own.
How old is Natalia Grace?
In the first episode of the 2024 follow-up, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, TruDiagnostic – which performs biological age determination via advanced DNA testing – ruled that Natalia was in her early 20s at that time.
Since Natalia’s biological mother claims she was born in September 2003, this is the age Natalia goes by now, as is revealed in The Final Chapter. This makes her 22 years old as of January 2025.
This means that Natalia was, in fact, a child when she was adopted by the Barnetts in 2010, and was a minor when Michael and Kristine had her age legally changed and moved her into an apartment on her own in Westfield and later Lafayette in Indiana.
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When Natalia and her new adoptive father, Antwon Mans, receive the results, she breaks down in tears, saying: “This one little piece of paper throws every single lie that the Barnetts have said right into the trash with a match.
“This is so big because literally this has been 13 years of just two people lying their butts off. They ruined a kid’s life; they painted them as some big monster when in reality they were the ones.”
Although Michael appears in Natalia Speaks and even sits down with Natalia, Kristine didn’t comment on the situation. The Barnetts were previously accused of neglect of a dependent but the charges against them were later dropped. It’s unclear whether they will face any consequences in the future.
The same goes for Cynthia and Antwon Mans. The couple initially seemed like they were Natalia’s guardian angels, but the doc’s third chapter investigates numerous allegations of abuse, while exposing their control over their adoptive daughter’s finances.
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter premieres across two nights beginning Monday, January 6 at 9/8c on ID, and will be available to stream on Max. You can read about what Freddie Gill said in the first chapter, whether Kristine Barnett went to jail, and the best docs of 2024.