Good American Family true story inspiration – what happened to the real Natalia Grace?

The dynamic between Natalia and her adoptive parents was quick to unravel, however, as the Barnetts became suspicious of the girl, and argued that she was a lot older than she had claimed to be.

Good American family, which stars Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass as the Barnetts, and newcomer Imogen Faith Reid as Natalia, examines why skepticism emerged over Natalia's identity and age, and is told from “multiple points of view, as a means to explore issues of perspective, bias and trauma," according to the official synopsis.

Speaking about why she was drawn to the role, Pompeo previously told The Hollywood Reporter: "I definitely wanted to do something that was completely different from what I’ve been doing for a long time and this came along.

She expanded on that in an interview with Vanity Fair.

"I just thought taking this on would be a land mine," added Pompeo. "This is a scary thing for me to even entertain because it’s intense stuff, and it deals with children and it deals with children who are neurodivergent and have disabilities. This just seems like really tricky stuff."

The actor also said she didn't initially know much about the story, but "then I got the script and read it and was blown away by the first episode".

Meanwhile, Duplass said that he was "very skeptical" about the series when it was first pitched to him.

"Look, there’s a documentary, there's a movie called Orphan that has similar themes, it's been in the press," he told Variety. "Why do we need another ripped from the headlines story?"

He echoed that in an interview with THR: "I read a lot about this story and I was like, 'Why are we going to do another ripped-from-the-headlines miniseries — why do we need this, other than to just go make money? I have 500 movies and TV shows in my queue and so do you, like what's this all about?'

"And they [showrunners Katie Robbins and Sarah Sutherland] were awesome because they challenged me right back and were like, 'What do you really know about this story?'"

But he was compelled by Robbins and Sutherland's decision to approach the story from multiple different perspectives.

"That was really exciting for me because it hasn’t really been seen in the miniseries format," he added.

Pompeo also appreciated the drama's willingness to tackle "our own biases".

"I want people just to think about how they look at things and what kind of judgements they make based on the way people look," she said. "I think we just need to check our own biases and question why we believe what we believe."

Read on for an overview of the true story that inspired Good American Family – and to find out what became of Natalia Grace and her adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael.

Good American Family true story inspiration: Who is Natalia Grace?

Natalia Grace made headlines around the world after she was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett, who went on to claim that she had lied about her age and was a threat to their safety.

The couple adopted Natalia, who had previously been sent back to the agency by another American family, in the spring of 2010, believing her to be approximately seven years old.

However, only two years later, they were alleging that she had used her dwarfism to disguise being an older woman – and successfully petitioned a court in Marion County, Indiana to legally re-age her. Her birth year was changed from 2003 to 1989.

What happened between Natalia Grace and the Barnetts?

This drastic course of action stemmed from trouble at the Barnett family home, with Kristine accusing Natalia (via Daily Mail) of threatening to stab her family in their sleep, attempting to poison her coffee and trying to push her into an electric fence.

Natalia denies all accusations of attempting to harm or kill any member of the Barnett family (via People).

The Barnetts also thought that certain physical characteristics of Natalia indicated that she could be older than what they had initially believed.

After the court ruled that Natalia was legally 22, her adoptive parents sent her to live independently in an apartment in the US state, before themselves relocating to Canada.

They had paid for one year's rent and left canned food in the apartment, where Natalia resided for around one year, before she eventually told police that she had been abandoned by her guardians.

Michael and Kristine were subsequently charged with neglect of a dependent, tried on the basis of Natalia's disability and not her age – with Michael found not guilty and Kristine's charges dropped in March 2023.

Was Natalia Grace lying about her age?

No, Natalia Grace was a child at the time of her adoption, according to a DNA test taken in August 2023.

The results from medical laboratory TruDiagnostic were revealed to the public the following January as part of Discovery documentary series The Curious Case of Natalia Grace.

The findings indicated that, in August 2023, Natalia was 22 years old, which suggests that she was only a nine-year-old girl when first adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett (per People).

What happened to Natalia Grace?

After becoming estranged from the Barnetts, Natalia Grace came into the care of two other adoptive families.

First, she lived with Antwon and Cynthia Mans, who ran a household including several other children, with the arrangement appearing to be a success initially.

In 2019, Natalia appeared with the Mans on an episode of US television series Dr Phil, where they supported her and said that she had posed no threat to their family (via BBC News).

However, in January 2025, the final season of docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace prominently featured accusations of controlling and abusive behaviour by the Mans towards Natalia.

These accusations came exclusively from people claiming to be witnesses and not from Natalia herself, who has declined to comment on the matter (via People). The Mans have denied the accusations, with Cynthia calling them "sick, twisted lies" and adding: "It's so frustrating that people will just say anything to appease their agenda. It's ridiculous."

Where is Natalia Grace now?

It was revealed at the start of this year that Natalia had left the family and is now living with the DePauls, who retrieved her from near the Mans family's church in a plan devised and carried out in secret.

The departure was recorded as part of The Curious Case of Natalie Grace. See below:

What happened to Kristine and Michael Barnett?

Kristine and Michael Barnett divorced in 2014.

Michael has since appeared on Natalia's documentary series, even sitting down for a face-to-face interview in one episode, which came to an early and abrupt end.

In the short conversation that did occur, Michael described Kristine as a "monster" – partly in response to Natalia's accusation that she had been physically abusive towards her.

Kristine denied any abuse in an extended Facebook post.

It began: "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. 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."

It concluded: "Michael Barnett and Natalia Barnett may have the same monster but that monster is not me. That monster whether it's mental illness sociopathy or whatever it actually is may be different for each of them. But it's within their own psyche."

Michael and Natalia's reunion can be seen here:

Good American Family premieres on 19th March on Hulu in the US and 7th May on Disney+ in the UK and internationally. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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