Natalia Grace's Biological Mother Was Told There Was No Point in Keeping Her Daughter

It's been a long and bumpy road for Natalia Grace, who as of March 2025 is finally seeing light at the end of a dark tunnel. After going from a failed adoption to another adoptive family that abandoned her, and then to a third family that allegedly abused her, she has found peace. Grace is now living in upstate New York with people who truly understand her.

A few days before Christmas in 2023, Grace escaped from her third adoptive family. Under the cover of night, she was picked up in Tennessee by Nicole DePaul and her daughter Mackenzie, who drove down from New York to save Grace. This new situation is great for many reasons, one of which is because the DePauls are little people. Grace is also seeing someone she met online. How did an orphan from Ukraine get to America? It's clear an adoption agency wasn't used until much later, if at all.

Grace's mother was featured in the Investigation Discovery documentary The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, which was released in May 2023. Anna Gava confirmed that Grace was born Sept. 4, 2003, at Maternity Hospital No. 1. Gava explained that she didn't realize Grace was suffering from a rare form of dwarfism until after her daughter was born. "When I regained consciousness after anesthesia, the next day the doctor came and said, 'There is no sense to take her home.'"

The doctors also told Gava that corrective surgery would cost $100,000. Because Gava didn't have the money, and already had a daughter, she was told it would be best to give Grace up for adoption. The doctor brought Gava a sample waiver which she signed five copies of. They assured the young mother that she would have more children, which she did, so keeping Grace would "ruin" her life. There is no mention of an adoption agency, but Grace was taken away almost immediately.

Four years before the documentary aired, the Daily Mail tracked down Gava, who was angry about what her daughter had endured. She was particularly upset about the idea that Grace's actual age was being questioned. Gava, who was born in 1979, said, "I know exactly how old she is. This girl is my daughter who was born 16 years ago."

Gava was also rightfully horrified by what happened to Grace. "She now lives in America with adoptive parents who want to ditch her," she said. "I thought everything was OK with her and it turned out that it's not all OK." This supports what the doctors were telling Gava, that giving Grace up for adoption was better for her. To encourage this decision, they led Gava to believe that her daughter would "never be able to move, that she would be chained to a chair or to a bed," if she stayed.

With tears in her eyes, Gava begged Grace to forgive her and extended an invitation for her to visit Ukraine. "We are waiting for you," said Gava. "You have two sisters and two brothers."