‘Good American Family’: What Really Happened With Natalia Grace?

When Natalia Grace was adopted from Ukraine into the Barnett family as a six-year-old child, no one could have foreseen that the situation would devolve into something that spurred court battles, criminal charges, and multiple documentaries and shows. How that happened is up for debate, with competing stories and narratives fighting for the right to be considered the truth.

This is what we do know: Michael and Kristine Barnett, a couple living in Indiana, adopted Natalia in 2010. They were told she was a six-year-old child who had been previously adopted and abandoned, and that she had a rare form of dwarfism. The Barnetts had three other children, including the physics genius Jacob Barnett who enrolled in college at the age of 10. 

Two years later, the Barnetts filed a motion with the Marion County Superior Court, which resulted in a judge ordering Natalia’s birth year be changed from 2003 to 1989, making Natalia 22 instead of nine. The Barnetts then rented an apartment for their adopted daughter and left her there while they moved to Canada, for which they would eventually be charged with two counts of felony neglect of a dependent. The results of a 2024 DNA test seemed to confirm what Natalia had maintained all along — that she was a child when she was adopted and then abandoned by the Barnetts.

In Good American Family, out today on Hulu, the stranger-than-fiction tale is turned into a limited series starring Ellen Pompeo as Kristine Barnett, Imogen Faith Reid as Natalia Grace, and Mark Duplass as Michael Barnett. Here’s what you need to know about the story. 

Who is Natalia Grace?

The central question of the story is this: Was Natalia Grace an adopted child who was abandoned by the people who promised they would take care of her, or a con artist? When Grace was adopted by the Barnetts in 2010, they were under the impression that she was six years old, but it wasn’t long before the family started to doubt the veracity of that claim. In one documentary, Michael remembers how Kristine let out a scream when she saw “full pubic hair” on their adopted daughter, who was supposedly years away from reaching puberty. The Barnetts also claim that Natalia spoke English without an accent and didn’t understand the Ukrainian language, despite having supposedly lived there until she was five. They said there were other cracks in the facade of a happy family with their adopted daughter: Kristine reported that Natalia threatened to stab her adopted parents while they slept, poured bleach into Kristine’s coffee, and tried to push Kristine into an electric fence. In one documentary, Michael Barnett says the family started to believe, “We are living with a con artist sociopath.” 

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The Barnetts brought Natalia to a doctor who seemed to confirm the couple’s suspicions: their adopted daughter was not a child at all, but an adult. In 2012, the Barnetts petitioned an Indiana court for a legal age change; the petition was granted, changing Natalia’s legal age from eight

to 22 years old. After the ruling, the Barnetts rented an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana and, according to court documents, left Natalia there to fend for herself. The Barnetts moved to Canada before later divorcing. Natalia lived on her own for five years before an investigation led to prosecutors charging the Barnetts with two counts of neglect of a dependent.

How old is Natalia Grace?

It depends who you ask. After Natalia was adopted, the Barnetts started to question her age after they said they discovered her menstruating, and noted how advanced her vocabulary was for a child. Kristine claimed that a bone density test done in 2010 found that Natalia was 14, but a probable cause affidavit revealed the doctor actually estimated the child was indeed around eight. 

After Natalia was living alone for five years, the Barnetts were charged with neglect of a dependent and the question of Natalia’s age exploded into the tabloids. Were the Barnetts evil monsters who had left a child on her own or loving adopted parents who had been duped by a con artist?And if the Barnetts did know Natalia was a child, was Michael in on it? In September 2019, Michael Barnett told police that he knew that Natalia Grace was the child she claimed to be even as the couple petitioned for her legal age to be changed. According to a court affidavit, Michael said he and his wife “were aware” doctors had “determined Natalia was a minor child” when she was left alone to live in Lafayette.

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Natalia later moved in with another family, the Mans, after meeting them through a neighbor when she lived alone in Lafayette. She and the Mans gave an interview to Dr. Phil in which they said the claims that Natalia was an adult were categorically false. At the time of the interview, Natalia said she was 16, the age that aligned with her Ukrainian birth certificate.

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Where are Natalia Grace and the Barnetts now?

The Barnetts pleaded not guilty to the charges of neglect of a dependent; Michael was later acquitted of the charges after a jury trial, and the charges against Kristine were dismissed, with a judge citing insufficient evidence. In the 2024 documentary Natalia Speaks, Natalia accused Kristine of abusing her, though charges were never brought against Kristine related to these claims. Michael, in a filmed conversation with Grace, claimed that his ex-wife had manipulated him and was cruel to Natalia. Kristine told Business Insider that the allegations were false and she maintains that Natalia was an adult, not a child.

Natalia’s relationship with the Mans also deteriorated; she revealed to People that she escaped her adoptive family in the middle of the night. Grace now lives with the DePauls, a family who first tried to adopt her in 2009. Nicole DePaul told People, “We’re trying to guide Natalia, not control her. She’s super sweet. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Natalia, now 21, is studying for her GED as viewers once again tune in to see a version of her life play out in A Good American Family.