Featured Image Credit: Instagram/tilly.0814 / Investigation Discovery
Topics: News, Film and TV, Natalia Grace
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: News, Film and TV, Natalia Grace
Natalia Grace has spoken out for the first time since the airing of her documentary finale.
Ukrainian-born Natalia has been in the news for some time now after her adoptive family accused her of being an adult pretending to be a six-year-old child.
Kristine and Michael Barnett adopted her back in 2010 and claimed they had alleged 'evidence' that proved she was older.
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The couple then filed a suit in a bid to try determine Natalia's real age, and a judge went on to rule that she was 22-years-old, changing her date of birth to be 1989.
Natalia was then left in an apartment as the Barnetts moved to Canada - and they were later charged with neglect of a dependent.
Michael was found not guilty, while the charges against Kristine were dropped.
The strange case has had people across the globe gripped, with Natalia soon getting her own TV documentary.
Titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, Natalia was given the opportunity to share her side of the story.
Following her fallout with the Barnetts, Natalia - whose real age has now been proven - was taken in by Cynthia and Antwon Mans.
They became her legal guardians in 2016 and later went to adopt her.
While things seemed to have been doing well between her and the Mans, the documentary ended with an unexpected twist: they said they were 'done' with their adopted daughter.
As the documentary came to an end on January 3, a screen appeared which explained that two weeks earlier, producers had received a 'shocking phone call'.
In a recording of the call, Antwon Mans can be heard claiming that 'something ain't right with Natalia'.
"This girl is tweakin," he continued. "I feel like she's the enemy in the house.
"And she said to us, we have held her hostage. Made us look like we're the enemy."
"Natalia is stabbing her family in the back over a complete lie," Cynthia adds.
Her husband went on to say: "She's done other things too, but this was a new low. Natalia does not have emotions for nothing but herself.
"We're done. We're done with her."
Natalia has since spoken out and assured people that she's 'doing well'.
She wrote on her Instagram page: "I am okay and doing well and thank you all for your support and prayers. I wish I could tell you more Abt the show but I signed an agreement with the show to keep things confidential for now.
"I will let you guys know when I can for sure, but just know I am okay. Love y'all [sic]."
Meanwhile, she has also set up a GoFundMe page in recent days to raise money for her to get her own home, as well as for surgery.
Part of the description reads: "I'm saving money to get my own house so I can have a personal place of my own and I am wanting to start my own photography business to create a fun and awesome way to have fun and do what I love which is taking pictures and creating memories for myself and other people!"
Natalia, who has a type of dwarfism called Diastrophic Dysplasia, adds that she will 'likely have to have major spine surgery and even more surgery on my legs' as a result of her condition.
"The costs associated with these surgeries are in excess of $500,000 because the specialist does not accept my medical insurance," she goes on.
At the time of writing, Natalia has raised almost $9,000.