section_path: Abandonment
section_name: Abandonment
paragraph_text: Abandonment
  
  In 2012, the Barnetts successfully petitioned the Marion County, Indiana court to change Natalia's Ukrainian birth records to indicate a 1989 birth date, which legally changed her age from eight to twenty-two. In July 2013, the Barnetts moved Natalia to an apartment in Westfield, Indiana, and later Lafayette, Indiana. Leaving Natalia alone in the Lafayette apartment, the Barnetts then moved along with their biological children to Ontario, Canada so that their oldest son could begin graduate studies at the University of Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute.
  
  Shortly after being left alone in the Lafayette apartment, Natalia was invited to live with couple Antwon Corry Mans, a bishop, and Cynthia Mary Renee Mans, who noticed that Natalia struggled to live on her own. In 2016, they filed to become Natalia's legal guardians, describing her as an "alleged incapacitated person" who was 13 or 14 years old, changing her name to Natalyah Grace Renee Mans. The Barnetts were charged with neglect of a dependent but Michael was later found not guilty.
  
  The prosecutors in the neglect case against the Barnetts were able to locate Natalia's birth mother Anna Gava in Ukraine. DNA testing confirmed Gava as Natalia's biological mother, but this was never independently verified. If Natalia's court-assigned birth date of 1989 were correct, Gava would have given birth to Natalia at ten years of age. The prosecutors also obtained birth and hospital records from Ukraine which support Natalia's original September 4, 2003, birth date and were barred from presenting the evidence that Natalia was a minor child born in 2003 when she was left to live alone in an apartment, and the neglect case was tried based on Natalia's disability, not her age.
  
  Cynthia Mans, who took Natalia in after discovering her abandoned in the Lafayette apartment, said she believed that Kristine Barnett was inspired to legally change Natalia's age by the 2009 film Orphan. The Barnetts claimed that Natalia was lying about her age and also exhibited sociopathic behavior which is similar to the plot of that film. The Manses said that Natalia has not exhibited sociopathic behavior while living in their home.
  
  Since then, Natalia Grace has left the Mans' home and moved in with the DePaul family, who claim to have originally "attempted to adopt" Natalia prior to her adoption by the Barnetts; however, that claim has been countered by adoption experts and publishers, Friends of Ukraine, alleging that the couple "attempted to extort" money from the first family and then "backed out when that didn’t work." After allegations that the Mans family extorted Natalia for money, the DePauls have helped her obtain an attorney to try to recoup her funds.
  
  In 2012, the Barnetts successfully petitioned the Marion County, Indiana court to change Natalia's Ukrainian birth records to indicate a 1989 birth date, which legally changed her age from eight to twenty-two. In July 2013, the Barnetts moved Natalia to an apartment in Westfield, Indiana, and later Lafayette, Indiana. Leaving Natalia alone in the Lafayette apartment, the Barnetts then moved along with their biological children to Ontario, Canada so that their oldest son could begin graduate studies at the University of Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute.
  
  Shortly after being left alone in the Lafayette apartment, Natalia was invited to live with couple Antwon Corry Mans, a bishop, and Cynthia Mary Renee Mans, who noticed that Natalia struggled to live on her own. In 2016, they filed to become Natalia's legal guardians, describing her as an "alleged incapacitated person" who was 13 or 14 years old, changing her name to Natalyah Grace Renee Mans. The Barnetts were charged with neglect of a dependent but Michael was later found not guilty.
  
  The prosecutors in the neglect case against the Barnetts were able to locate Natalia's birth mother Anna Gava in Ukraine. DNA testing confirmed Gava as Natalia's biological mother, but this was never independently verified. If Natalia's court-assigned birth date of 1989 were correct, Gava would have given birth to Natalia at ten years of age. The prosecutors also obtained birth and hospital records from Ukraine which support Natalia's original September 4, 2003, birth date and were barred from presenting the evidence that Natalia was a minor child born in 2003 when she was left to live alone in an apartment, and the neglect case was tried based on Natalia's disability, not her age.
  
  Cynthia Mans, who took Natalia in after discovering her abandoned in the Lafayette apartment, said she believed that Kristine Barnett was inspired to legally change Natalia's age by the 2009 film Orphan. The Barnetts claimed that Natalia was lying about her age and also exhibited sociopathic behavior which is similar to the plot of that film. The Manses said that Natalia has not exhibited sociopathic behavior while living in their home.
  
  Since then, Natalia Grace has left the Mans' home and moved in with the DePaul family, who claim to have originally "attempted to adopt" Natalia prior to her adoption by the Barnetts; however, that claim has been countered by adoption experts and publishers, Friends of Ukraine, alleging that the couple "attempted to extort" money from the first family and then "backed out when that didn’t work." After allegations that the Mans family extorted Natalia for money, the DePauls have helped her obtain an attorney to try to recoup her funds.