Good American Family

This clause discusses veridical - life ableism , alleged violence , and child neglect .

Hulu’sGood American Familyis based on a real - life tarradiddle , and the true - crime show is only part of the complicated reality . Good American Familyhas presented itself as a fairly acute and unusual true - offense show , and many TV audience may marvel if it ’s actually based on a literal taradiddle . Good American Familyfollows a class that adopts a child , only to believe that child was actually an adult who was trying to scam them . It seems like a product of fiction , but Hulu ’s raw dramatic event is base on a unfeigned level , and the reality is just as excruciating as the fable .

in force American Familyis based on the story of Natalia Grace and her espousal by the Barnett category , but it ’s not the first sentence this story has been put to CRT screen . TheOrphanprequel movieOrphan : First Killwas seemingly inspired by Natalia Grace , and the docuseriesThe Curious Case of Natalia Gracealso hear to excavate the verity of the disputative events and legal minutes . It is , however , the first dramatization of those events , and it may deviate from the fact of the case pretty .

Good American Family - Poster

Good American Family Is Inspired By The True Case Of Natalie Grace Barnett

Natalie Grace Was Adopted By The Barnett Family In 2010

According toGood American Family ’s trailer , the show is inhale by " multiple stories , perspectives , threat , interpretations , and accusation " surrounding Kristine and Michael Barnett ’s adoption of Natalia Grace . As such , most of thecast member ofGood American Familyplay existent - life sentence multitude in the dramatization . Ellen Pompeo , for example , play Kristine Barnett , while Imogen Faith Reid play Natalia Grace . The rightful story of Natalia Grace ’s prison term with the Barnett family , however , was obscure by controversy , conflicting accounts , and lies . Some versions of the fib accuse Natalia Grace of dumbfound as a child to con and kill her adoptive family , while others lay the Barnetts as an opprobrious and remiss crime syndicate .

Natalia Grace’s Life Before Being Adopted By The Barnett Family Explained

Natalia Grace Was An Orphan In Ukraine Before Being Adopted & Abandoned By A New England Family

Natalia Grace was carry in Ukraine with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita , a rare form of nanism ( viaThe Independent ) . Natalia ’s Ukrainian birth certificate claimed she was born in 2003 , meaning she would have been about seven years old when the Barnetts take in her in 2010.Natalia was put into a Ukrainian orphanage at some point in her other life , and she was finally brought to the United States to be borrow . Natalia was borrow by a different family before the Barnetts , the Ciccones , though that family from New England gift her off , according toThe Curious Case of Natalia Grace .

The Barnett Family Claimed That Natalia Grace Was Violent & Lying About Her Age To Scam Them

The Barnetts Claimed Natalia Grace Had Gone Through Puberty & Had Violent Tendencies Due To Mental Illness

Shortly after the Barnetts take Natalia Grace , bother began . According to some author and the Barnetts , Natalia was suffering from some form of mental unwellness - she has since been name with responsive attachment disorder ( viaPeople ) - and had tearing leaning . Various accounts allege that Natalia threatened her adopted siblings and parent with knives , urinated and defecated indoors and on her youthful sib , and tried to envenom Kristine(viaThe Independent ) . The Barnetts also claim that a professional diagnosed Natalia as a " sociopath , " though Natalia has denied these call . In fact , both Natalia and Michael Barnett have accused Kristine of step her ( viaBusiness Insider ) .

At the same time as the alleged instance of fierceness , the Barnetts began surmise that Natalia Grace was actually older than her parentage records claimed she was . Kristine Barnett claimed that Natalia had pubic hair and had menstruate , both of which are lower-ranking sexual characteristics miss ordinarily first have around 12 years of age(viaThe Guardian ) . The Barnetts also aver that Natalia looked previous than another child with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita and that she had a vocabulary too in advance for a seven - twelvemonth - former . The family believed Natalia was actually an adult or teen , and that she was using her nanism to scam them .

The Barnetts Petitioned To Legally Change Natalia Grace’s Birth Year To 1989 Before It Was Later Restored To 2003

A Judge Changed Natalia Grace’s Age In 2012 & She Was Sent To Live On Her Own

Two years after the Barnetts adopt Natalia Grace , they deliver the goods in a homage case to effectively vary her years . Natalia ’s Ukrainian nativity certificate originally put forward that she was born in 2003 , but the Barnetts successfully petition a judge to change the giving birth records to say she was born in 1989(viaUSA Today ) . However , a local kid ’s hospital conducted a haggard resume and determined Natalia was about 11 years old at the time ( viaThe Guardian ) . The alteration in Natalia ’s birth records allowed the Barnetts to cover her as an grownup , and made it so Natalia was n’t lawfully their child anymore .

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After get Natalia Grace lawfully declared an adult , the Barnetts effectively left her . The Barnetts rented an apartment in Lafayette , Indiana , and got Natalia on federal benefits before act with the ease of their kin to Canada ( viaThe Independent ) . Natalia also said she was ineffective to bath herself or manoeuvre a wash automobile while living on her own ( viaBusiness Insider ) . However , because of Natalia Grace ’s genic stipulation , Tippecanoe County prosecutors charge Kristine and Michael Barnett with nonperformance of a dependant in 2019 . Michael Barnett was exonerate of the billing in October 2022 , while the accusation against Kristine were brush aside in March 2023 ( viaBusiness Insider ) .

Natalia Grace and Imogen Faith Reid playing her in Good American Family

Custom image by Ana Nieves

Where Natalia Grace & The Barnetts Are Today

The Barnetts Have Divorced & Natalia Grace Endured Another Abusive Adoptive Family

Now , a decade and a half after the initial adoption , Kristine and Michael Barnett and Natalia Grace have very different lives . Michael and Kristine separated in 2013 and divorce in 2014 ( viaBusiness Insider ) . Kristine write a novel about lift her son , Jacob , who has autism , in 2013 , though she has not written any more parenting Scripture since . Michael has publicly allege that Kristine was opprobrious and totally at fault for the argument palisade Natalia Grace ’s age(viaThe Curious Case of Natalia Grace ) . Michael has since remarried .

After leaving the Barnett family , Natalia had more adoption troubles . Natalia was adopted by the Mans family , though they were allegedly abusive towards her for ten years ( viaPeople ) . The situation was reportedly so dire that Natalia had to stage an " escape , " and she now lives with the DePaul family . She ’s also studying for her General Educational Development tests , hop to become a instructor , and preparation surgeries related to her dwarfism . She also has a young man , Neil , and has descend a long way since the case thatGood American Familydepicts .

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Natalia from The Curious Case of Natalia Grace

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Natalia Grace as a child wearing a purple outfit on a sidewalk, from The Curious Case of Natalia Grace

Kristine Barnett and  Natalia Grace from Hulu’s Good American Family are in front of a blood red backdrop

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The Good American Family trailer shows the adoption certificate of Natalia Grace

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Michael and Kristine Barnett in their mugshots from The Curious Case of Natalia Grace

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Good American Family