Inside Natalia Grace's New Life with Family of Little People in New York: 'It Is Definitely a Blessing to Be Alive' (Exclusive)

The Ukrainian orphan moved from Nashville to live with a new family in upstate New York in December of 2023

Three days before Christmas in 2023, Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace, 21—who has a rare form of dwarfism—escaped her adoptive family in the middle of the night.

In this week's PEOPLE cover story, Natalia reveals the great lengths she went to in order to gain control of her life after her parents Bishop Antwon and Cynthia Mans— who legally adopted her in June 2023—were accused of controlling her and forbidding her from contacting outsiders.

In the new chapter of Natalia’s saga, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter, which premieres on January 6 and 7 on ID and Max, viewers will see that, after being legally adopted, Natalia joined the Manses in their religious lifestyle and helped to care for her 10 siblings while living with the family in Indiana and, later, Tennessee.

Related: Final Chapter of ID's Natalia Grace Series Promises 'New Set of Challenges and Upheavals'

On the docuseries, several witnesses including neighbors and friends claim to have seen the Manses whip Natalia with a belt, slap her in the face, lock her in a room and assault her. (The Manses and their lawyers did not respond to People’s efforts to reach them, and Natalia declined to confirm or deny the incidents multiple times.)

After 10 years together, Natalia had had enough. With the help of her boyfriend Neil, whom she met on Facebook, she reached out to Nicole DePaul, 49—an old friend who, with her husband Vince, 51, had tried to adopt Natalia in 2009 but were turned down—and devised an elaborate escape that took months of planning.

In late 2023, Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie, 19, drove from their home in upstate New York and secretly picked up Natalia outside of a church in Nashville. Natalia was nervous about the ramifications of leaving her adoptive family she's known over a decade — but ultimately knew it was the right decision for her.

"The last thing I told my sisters were, 'You guys go ahead to the church sanctuary and I love you,' recalls Natalia. "And then I saw the [DePauls] pull up and Mack jumped out and I'm like, 'Oh, my gosh, she's actually here.' My heart started pounding. I was terrified. I was completely terrified," she says.

Since then, she's lived with the DePauls—who, like Natalia, are little people —and enjoyed a sense of stability, love and care. Her new family has helped her get into therapy to cope with her past trauma. Nicole, who says she has no plans to legally adopt Natalia, confesses that while their life together today is usually harmonious, there are times when they don’t get along.

"At first it was bumpy because the Mans were still involved. They were calling Natalia constantly and trying to wheel her back in," says Nicole tells PEOPLE. "It was just this constant thing where we were walking a fine line of not doing too much. See, she just came from this house that basically was ruled by a dictator, so I didn't want to tell her what to do."

"She's also never done one violent thing ever," Nicole continues. "Our dogs love her and they sleep with her. I'm an animal lover. If I didn't trust her, I wouldn't leave my babies with her. They're also a judge of character, as well."

Adds husband Vince, "We're trying to guide Natalia, not control her. She's super sweet. She wouldn't hurt a fly."

Although there have been ups and downs over the past two years living together—such as the time Natalia secretly recording them in their home— but those disruptions are to be expected, Nicole says, explaining that Natalia has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, better known as RAD. It's a behavioral condition common in children who, like Natalia, have spent time in an orphanage.

“Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah,” Nicole says. “[But] when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don’t just get rid of them when they don’t fit into your puzzle.” 

Natalia says she has always loved the DePauls and wishes that she could have seen them more growing up. But according to Nicole and Vince, the Mans wouldn't allow them any contact.

Related: Natalia Grace Docuseries Ends with Shocking New Allegation — Watch the Jaw-Dropping Final Moments

Today, Natalia is studying for her GED and dreams of one day being a school teacher. She is learning to drive, listens to Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus on repeat, and is planning upcoming surgeries that are required for her disabilities.

She has also found love with her boyfriend Neil and is ready for her next chapter. "It's a blessing to be alive today because looking back at my 7-year-old self, I should have been dead," she says.

"Learning everything that I have about how to live with my dwarfism—it's been a great experience," she says. "I love it. I mean, of course, I still miss my siblings and everything. But I love it. I feel free."

 The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter premieres January 6 and January 7 on Investigation Discovery and streams on Max.