Is 'Good American Family' Based on a True Story? What to Know About Natalia Grace and the Barnett Family

This article contains discussions of child abuse and abandonment. For support, please contact Child Protective Services.

The story of Hulu’s new limited series, Good American Family, might sound like the beginning of a horror movie: a family adopts a girl from Ukraine, only to find out she’s actually an adult posing as a child. However, while the stranger-than-fiction series may resemble the plot of 2009’s Orphan, the Ellen Pompeo vehicle is based on the true story of Michael and Kristine Barnett, who adopted a Ukrainian orphan named Natalia Grace in 2010 and later claimed that she was lying about her age.

In reality, Natalia Grace has maintained her innocence, even after the Barnetts convinced the courts to legally change her birth year. She told her story in a two-part true-crime docuseries titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, now streaming on Max. Meanwhile, Hulu’s Good American Story, claims it was inspired by “multiple stories, perspectives, threats, interpretations, and accusations.”

So what really happened between the Barnetts and Natalia Grace, and where are they now? Here’s what you need to know about the true story behind Good American Family.

Michael and Kristine Barnetts claimed their adopted daughter Natalia Grace was an adult.

Natalia Grace was born in 2003 and raised in a Ukrainian orphanage until she was adopted by an American family in New Hampshire, Dyan and Gary Ciccone, in 2008. According to PEOPLE, the Ciccones eventually relinquished parental rights due to alleged “disruptive behavior,” putting her back up for adoption.

She was then adopted by Michael and Kristine Barnett—already parents to three sons and living in Indiana—who believed she was a 6-year-old child with dwarfism. But the family alleged they began noticing things about her that didn’t support this claim: According to the Barnetts, Natalia Grace was menstruating and had pubic hair, and they concluded she was lying about her age. They also deemed Natalia Grace a danger to the family, accusing her of making violent threats and even poisoning Kristine. The Barnetts claim they even consulted a doctor who confirmed their suspicions that their adopted daughter was actually an adult and used this evidence in 2012 to petition the courts to officially change Natalia Grace’s birth year from 2003 to 1989.

The Barnett family abandoned Natalia Grace two years after adopting her.

Following the court’s declaration that Natalia Grace was 22-years-old, the Barnetts moved their adopted child into a rented apartment in Westfield and later Lafayette, Indiana before fleeing to Canada in July 2013. The adoptive family, including their three biological kids, cut off all contact with Natalia Grace, and she was forced to fend for herself.

Did the Barnetts face charges or go to jail?

The story was back in the spotlight in 2019 when the state of Indiana charged Kristine and Michael Barnett, now divorced, with neglect of a dependent. The former couple’s defense relied upon their argument that Natalia Grace was not a child and therefore they could not be guilty.

However, prosecutors tracked down Natalia Grace’s birth records in Ukraine, which supported the claim that she was born in 2003 and was in fact a child. Still, Michael’s charges were dropped in 2022 and Kristine’s in 2023 and they never faced jailtime.

Natalia Grace was later adopted by the Mans family, who were also allegedly abusive.

Shortly after the Barnetts left her in Lafayette, Natalia Grace met the Mans family—Cynthia and Antwon Mans and their 10 children—who took her into their home in Indiana and later Tennessee. (The family couldn’t legally adopt her until June 2023 because the court documents previously stated she was a legal adult in her 20s.) However, according to PEOPLE, the young orphan ran away from the Mans's home six months later and accused them of “controlling her and forbidding her from contacting outsiders.”

This portion of Natalia Grace’s life likely won’t be featured in Good American Family, but was the subject of the ID docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter. In the docuseries, witnesses attest to having seen the Manses “whip Natalia with a belt, slap her in the face, lock her in a room, and assault her,” though neither the Manses nor Natalia Grace herself have corroborated those claims.

Where is Natalia Grace now?

With the help of her boyfriend Neil, whom she met on Facebook, Natalia Grace escaped to Nicole and Vince DePaul’s home in New York, where she lives now. The DePauls, who are also little people, previously tried to adopt her in 2009 but were turned down at the time. After months of planning, Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie drove to Nashville where they picked Natalia Grace up in the middle of the night. She’s been living with the DePauls since then.

The now-21-year-old has also since been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, a rare but serious condition characterized as “unexplained withdrawal, fear, sadness or irritability” and “behavior problems,” among other symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. Reactive attachment disorder is common among children who have spent time in orphanages, as it develops when young children don’t form healthy attachments to caregivers.

Still, Natalia Grace is optimistic about her future: She is studying for her GED, hopes to be a school teacher, and is planning to get surgeries required for her disabilities. She told PEOPLE, "It's a blessing to be alive today because looking back at my 7-year-old self, I should have been dead."

Where are Michael and Kristine Barnett now?

According to Journal Courier, Michael filed for divorce in February 2014—not long after he and Kristine left Natalia Grace alone in Indiana. The family no longer lives in Canada, as Kristine’s address was updated to Bradenton, Florida and Michael’s reverted to Indianapolis. In 2014, Kristine also published a book centered on her son’s autism, titled The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism.

While the former couple has primarily lived their lives in private, Michael appeared on the first season of Natalia Grace’s ID docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks in which he called Kristine a “monster” and did not deny Natalia Grace’s allegations that Kristine pepper sprayed her and hit her with a belt. Kristine responded via a now-deleted Facebook post saying the accusations were “just plain false” and doubling down on her claims that Natalia Grace is “a sociopath.”