Natalia Grace's estranged family is speaking out.
Her adoptive mom Kristine Barnett broke her silence after the Ukrainian orphan told her side of the story on Investigation Discovery's new docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks.
"I found Natalia's entire demeanor to be quite contradictory to the deameaner [sic] I experienced from her," Kristine said in a lengthy Facebook post Jan. 4, "and it was eerie watching her as if she was very well coached in how she was dressed and behaved and presented herself."
As far as allegations themselves, Kristine denied that Natalia was ever abused by anyone in her family.
"Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family," Kristine said. "Nobody ever took a belt to Natalia and the allegations that she was 'beaten' are just plain false. Any discipline of Natalia was very minimal and was not out of the bounds of normal parenting."
Kristine and then-husband Michael Barnett have claimed that Natalia was not 6 years old when they adopted her in 2010, but was actually a 20-year-old sociopath who tried to kill them. However, Natalia—who has spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a rare genetic disorder—has said she was a child who was mistreated by the couple.
"We all felt a tremendous amount of sympathy for Natalia and loved her while she lived with us," Kristine continued. "As a parent , I have had good and bad days as a mom... I am certainly not going to claim I was a perfect mom."
She admitted she could become exasperated while cleaning, for example, noting, "I am sure there were plenty of fails and some successes I had as a parent and mom but I was not abusive to my children."
But Kristine—whose divorce from Michael was finalized in 2018—believes Natalia made allegations against the couple in order to "lead people away" from investigating her own "personal behaviors."
So, according to the Spark author, "The accusations of being abused are a way to deflect what she is actively doing to hurt other people."
Kristine also pointed out that Natalia's allegations on the "highly sensationalized" docuseries were previously investigated by authorities. Indeed, after the pair was charged with neglect of a dependent, abandoning or cruelly confining a dependent and more crimes, Michael was found not guilty in 2022. Prosecutors later dropped the case against Kristine in March 2023.
"The fact that these false allegations are occurring after a trial with evidence which was dismissed is disturbing," Kristine shared. "Natalia was never 'abandoned' . I did not ever leave or want to 'get rid of ' Natalia. That was also covered in the trial as I was charged with abandonment."
Natalia has accused Michael and Kristine of moving to Canada with their three sons in 2013, leaving her alone in an apartment in Lafayette, Ind.
However, Kristine said the real reason Natalia stayed in the U.S. was because she was going to school.
"In regards to Lafayette , I was excited about the possibility of her deciding to enroll in school," Kristine explained. "I truly hoped she would become a beautician or if she did well an accountant which was what she stated her intentions of being in Lafayette were. The real facts of her being there were for the same mundane reason many people go to Lafayette which is education... They are not sensational like the word 'abandoned.'"
But from Natalia's point of view, Kristine has been putting on a "mask" to act like a great mom.
"Kristine said that adopting me was this mission of love and never once did I see any love," Natalia said on the show. "I feel like it was a mission of boosting her ego type of thing. I feel like she just wanted people to be like, ‘Oh my goodness, like she's this amazing person.'"
And as for the debate about her age? The series revealed that DNA testing determined she was about 9 years old at the time of her adoption. Natalia, who is now about 22, called the revelation "so big" for her case.
"Because literally, this has been 13 years of just two people lying their butts off," she said. "They ruined a kid's life. They painted [me] as some big monster."
And when it comes to her relationship with Michael, Natalia has mended the fence. After he apologized on the show for not standing up more for her, Natalia responded, "I forgive you."
E! News has not been able to obtain Natalia's contact information for comment.