Natalie Grace portrayal in “Good American Family” | Young Natalie Grace as shown in Investigation … [+] Discovery
Courtesy of Hulu/Investigation Discovery
Hulu’s new gripping crime drama Good American Family is based on the unsettling true story of a Midwestern couple who adopted a girl with a rare form of dwarfism—only to later accuse her of lying about her age. Read on to learn about Natalia Grace’s story and the conflicting claims made between her and her former adoptive family.
Created by Katie Robbins, Good American Family stars Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass as Kristine and Michael Barnett, the couple who adopted Natalia, played by Imogen Faith Reid. The series is told through multiple perspectives, exploring the conflicting accounts within the family about what happened.
“As they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, mystery emerges around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is,” the official synopsis reads. “As they defend their family from the daughter they’ve grown to believe is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds, in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom.”
As you watch the series, you might be curious about what happened to Natalia Grace, including why Barnetts suspected her of hiding something, the abuse allegations from both sides, and where things stand today.
Is Hulu’s Good American Family Based On A True Story?
GOOD AMERICAN FAMILY – “Almost Like a Prayer” – Reeling from the grief of a failed adoption, the … [+] Barnett family gets a second chance when they get a call about a little girl named Natalia.(Disney/Ser Baffo) IMOGEN FAITH REID, ELLEN POMPEO, MARK DUPLASS
Disney/Ser Baffo
Yes, Hulu’s new series Good American Family is inspired by the true story of Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian girl with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDc), a rare form of dwarfism. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia describes the condition as a “rare genetic disorder that results in short stature and skeletal anomalies that primarily affect the spine and long bones of the arms and legs.”
In 2008, Natalia was adopted from Ukraine by a New Hampshire couple. However, according to the Indiana Court of Appeals, she was re-listed for adoption in 2010. That same year, Indiana couple Kristine Elizabeth Barnett, 45, and Michael Barnett, 43, adopted her. She was believed to be around six or seven years old when she moved into their Indiana home.
When Did The Barnetts Start Having Suspicions About Natalia?
The Barnetts became suspicious of Natalia’s age on multiple occasions. In Investigation Discovery’s three-season docuseries, Michael recalled that when Kristine gave Natalia her first bath in their new home, she was shocked to see that Natalia had full pubic hair. He also claimed that Natalia admitted to having a period and hiding bloody underwear.
He also said that within six months of living in their home, Natalia would try to urinate on her six-year-old sibling Ethan, defecate in the car and smear the waste onto the younger boy, according to Time.com. There were also allegedly instances where she would take her brothers’ toys and throw them into the street and hide knives in her bedroom. However, the most serious accusation from the family against Natalia was that she threatened to kill them while they were sleeping.
Natalie Grace from Investigation Discovery’s docuseries
Courtesy of Investigation Discovery
In another instance, reenacted in Good American Family, Kristine allegedly caught Natalia trying to poison her coffee with cleaning fluid. However, in the docuseries, Natalia claimed Kristine staged the poisoning herself. She also alleged that she endured abuse from her adoptive mother. According to People, she said Kristine hit her with a belt, pepper-sprayed her eyes, and gave her three times the recommended dose of a prescribed medication.
“I feel like I have to defend myself and be like, ‘Do I look like somebody that could push someone twice my size into a fence? Do I look like I could even grip a knife?’ ” Natalia said. “I feel like I was brainwashed by the Barnetts. Kristine coached me to lie about my age and say I tried to murder my parents. Why would you do that to your child?”
Why Was Natalia Grace’s Age Changed?
Two years after adopting Natalia, the Barnetts petitioned the Marion County Probate Court to legally change her age to 22. They were able to alter her birth year from 2003 to 1989 “based on age estimates provided by a primary care physician and social worker,” according to a document in the Indiana Court of Appeals, obtained by TODAY.
In 2013, the Barnetts moved to Canada with their three sons, leaving Natalia alone in an apartment in Lafayette. While they claimed to have helped her by “obtaining federal disability benefits and supportive services to help her transition to life as an adult,” per the Indiana Court of Appeals, Natalia shared a different perspective in the docuseries. She revealed that the apartment wasn’t fully accessible—she couldn’t reach the stove, shelves, or mailbox—and alleged that she had no phone to call for help, according to Time.com.
After more than a month of living alone, Natalia connected with a neighbor named Cynthia Mans, who noticed her sitting on a sidewalk. Cynthia invited Natalia to move in with her and her husband, Christian pastor Antwon Mans, and their 10 children. They formally adopted Natalia in 2023.
Grace eventually left the Manses’ home thanks to the support of her current guardians, Nicole and Vincent DePaul, a New York couple with dwarfism, as shown in the final, third season of the ID docuseries.
What Were The Barnetts Charged With?
In 2019, Michael and Kristine were charged with multiple counts of neglecting a dependent. After a five-year investigation, Michael was found not guilty in October 2022 on three counts of neglect and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent. In March 2023, all charges against Kristine were dismissed.
So, Is Natalia An Adult Or A Child?
Natalie Grace in Investigation Discovery docuseries
Courtesy of Investigation Discovery
As revealed in the Investigation Discovery docuseries, a DNA test conducted by the medical lab TruDiagnostic refuted claims that Natalia was posing as an adult. The test determined that she is approximately 22 years old, indicating she was around 9 when Michael and Kristine adopted her. “This one little piece of paper throws every single lie that the Barnetts has said right into the trash with a match,” Natalia said.
In another episode of the docuseries, she confronted her former adoptive father, Michael, who claimed that he, too, was manipulated and mistreated by Kristine. (He filed for divorce from her in February 2014.)
“I had the same monster you did. I was exceptionally controlled and put down and threatened, was minimalized, anything that was who I was was ripped from me and I was guided and instructed to be exactly what she wanted me to be,” he revealed.
While Kristine did not participate in the docuseries, she addressed the allegations in a Jan. 4, 2024, Facebook post, according to CBS8.
“Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family. She was not abused by anyone in my family. Let’s get straight to these allegations,” Kristine wrote. “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. If anything it was overly permissive as we all felt a tremendous amount of sympathy for Natalia and loved her while she lived with us.”
Kristine acknowledged having “good and bad days as a mom” but insisted that Natalia’s accusations had already been “investigated” and were “dismissed as unfounded.”
“Living with Natalia did come with constant allegations about her treatment, which I believe was to lead people away from investigating her personal behaviors which were extreme and usually of some sort of sexual or hurtful to towards others nature. So the accusations of being abused are a way to deflect what she is actively doing to hurt other people and as well they themselves hurt other people,” she continued. “She has alleged abuse by anyone who has had longterm contact with her as well as neighbors, teachers and even children that she claims were abusive to her. In my experience they all were not abusing her.”
Good American Family is streaming on Hulu. Watch the official trailer below.
