What Happened With Natalia Grace & the Mans Family? Why They’re ‘Done With Her’
She was telling her side of the story for the first time in Natalia Grace Speaks, but in the closing moments of the documentary, we’re told the producers received a shocking phone call that could turn her story on its head as her new family declared they’re “done with her”. So what happened with Natalia Grace and the Mans family?
Natalia Grace is a Ukrainian-born girl who gained media attention due to a controversial and widely publicized case. In 2010, she was adopted by an American family, the Barnetts, who because of her sophisticated language and other behaviors, believed that Natalia had a rare form of dwarfism—instead of being a child, as she and the orphanage claimed, she was an adult with psychiatric issues who deceived them. One particular account, the Barnetts said, was when they awoke to Natalia standing over them with a knife.
They petitioned to have her age legally changed to 22, based on a bone density test. In 2012 and a year later, the Barnetts moved to Canada, leaving Natalia behind to fend for herself when she was only 9 years old. In The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, we’re offered exclusive access to Natalia as she shares her story and confronts her former adoptive parents Michael and Kristine Barnett’s accusations head-on.
Natalia was eventually taken in by Antwon and Cynthia Mans and resides in Indiana. In November 2019, Cynthia told Dr. Phil that: “We have other children. We have a grandson. [Natalia] does nothing but love her siblings and her nephew.” Could that still be true? What happened with Natalia Grace and the Mans family and why would Antwon call her “the enemy of the house”?
What happened with Natalia Grace and the Mans family?
What happened with Natalia Grace and the Mans family? All we know is what Antwon told producers in the closing moments of the Natalia Grace Speaks documentary and that includes some shocking new allegations against Natalia. It was dated “two weeks ago, and six months after Natalia’s adoption” in white text against a black background.
“Something ain’t right with Natalia. This girl is tweakin,” Antwon claimed to show producers in a voiceover. “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,” his wife added. “She’s done other things too, but this was a new low,” Antwon continued. “Natalia does not have emotions for nothing but herself. We’re done. We’re done with her.” The show closed with an ominous title card that read: “Natalia’s story will continue.”
It’s odd because the Mans document their seemingly happy lives on Instagram @themansfamily11. In November 2019, Cynthia recalled to Dr. Phil how Natalia came to live with them, meeting her on her neighbor’s front porch when she was 8 years old and living alone after the Barnett’s abandoned her. At the time of the Dr. Phil interview, Cynthia said she’d been living with them for 6 years.
“My friend called me and was like, ‘You need to come down here right away’,” Cynthia recalled, of the day she met Natalia. “She’s telling me she’s 22, but look at her, she’s not 22,” figuring Natalia was just repeating what she’d been told to say. Natalia showed Cynthia her apartment where she was living alone. Noting that she barely had any possessions and little food in the freezer, Cynthia invited Natalia to come over. “I have a couple of kids at home, come on down, you can play with them, talk with them. Whatever. So she came to our house and hung out down there and she never left. She’s been with us ever since,” Cynthia said.
In her first time speaking out since then, Natalia talked about the many allegations Kristine and Michael have made against her. “The things that Kristine and Michael have said that I have done is a lie. I have never done anything that Kristine and Michael have said that I have done,” Natalia said. “You can ask anybody in my family now. You can ask Bishop Antwon and Cynthia Mans that — just ask them, ‘Has she ever done anything?’ They will tell you who I really am. They’re not going to lie and neither am I.”
She continued: “It’s frustrating. It’s very frustrating to hear everything that’s being said from Kristine and Michael. And because I already don’t know who I am and I want to know who I am and what happened to me, but I’m hearing all this stuff that never actually happened from Kristine and Michael,” she goes on to say. “I’m like, ‘It’s shocking and it’s frustrating.’ Because that’s not even true. And people are believing what Kristine and Michael are saying without even hearing my side.”
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