The documentary series second season delves into inquiries surrounding the authenticity of a Ukrainian orphan, raising doubts about whether she was genuinely a child or an adult masquerading as one. The adoptive parents, having convinced a judge to alter her legal age from 9 to 22, argue that she posed a threat to their family.
DNA analysis, dental records and an endocrinologist’s evaluation are offered as evidence of Natalia Grace Barnett’s true age in “Natalia Speaks,” Investigation Discovery’s second season of its 2023 blockbuster “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace.”
Health and scientific experts assert that in 2012, when Michael and Kristine Barnett sought to modify Natalia’s birth certificate, she was indeed a child. The couple persuaded an Indiana court to adjust her birth year from 2003 to 1989. Subsequently, the Barnetts relocated to Canada with their three biological sons, leaving Natalia, who has a form of dwarfism, to independently manage the apartments they had arranged for her in Indiana. The documentary series
A dentist reviewing her X-rays from his 2011 examination for “Natalia Speaks” pointed out that she still had 12 baby teeth at the time, calling the results “indisputable.” Kristine Barnett, he said, left the consultation with documentation of his finding that she was 8 to 9 years old.
And filmmakers were there when Natalia received the results of a recent epigenetic DNA test, which determined she is now no older than 22, making it clear she was a child when deserted by the family nearly 12 years ago.
“This single piece of paper,” Natalia emphasized, displaying the DNA results, “renders every falsehood uttered by the Barnetts utterly baseless, like tossing them into the trash and setting it ablaze.”
In the inaugural season of the documentary series, aired in July, the peculiar assertions made by the Barnetts (who later divorced) were scrutinized. They contended that Natalia was feigning childhood to conceal what they alleged was a sinister motive. In the second season, Natalia highlights the parallels between their accusations – such as poisoning Kristine Barnett’s coffee with cleaning fluid, pushing her into an electric fence, wielding a knife by the couple’s bedside, and tossing her brothers’ toys in the street with the intent of causing harm – and the narrative of “The Orphan,” a horror film released in 2009, the year preceding Natalia’s adoption by the Barnetts.