Warning: This post contains spoilers for Good American Family
Good American Family, out on Hulu, is inspired by the dramatic but real story of Natalia Grace, who lives with a rare form of dwarfism. In 2012, her adoptive parents said Grace was an adult who was posing as a child and had her age legally changed. The series examines why scrutiny grew over Grace’s age and identity.
In Good American Family, Grey’s Anatomy’s Ellen Pompeo stars as Kristine Barnett, the woman who adopted a seven-year-old Natalia in 2010. At the time, Barnett was a rising star in the speakers’ circuit because of her son Jacob, a physics wiz with autism who made headlines for excelling at school when experts doubted his abilities. In the show, Kristine sees Natalia (Imogen Faith Reid) as her next project, and her husband, Michael (Mark Duplass), is ecstatic to finally have a daughter.
In 2012—both in real life and in the show—the Barnetts had Natalia’s age changed from 8 to 22 and moved her into an apartment to live on her own. Kristine and Michael Barnett were both charged with neglecting a dependent; Michael was acquitted, and the charges against Kristine were dropped. The real Natalia Grace and Michael Barnett both got to tell their sides of the story in the docu-series The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, the third season of which just aired in January and landed Natalia on the cover of the Jan. 13, 2025, issue of People magazine.
Here’s a look at a few of the biggest moments in Good American Family and how they match up with what Natalia and the Barnetts have said in past interviews.
What happened to Natalia Grace in the Barnetts’ house
In the first season of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, Michael Barnett explains why his family wanted to adopt Natalia: “We wanted to help somebody who was in danger of never being loved.”
But both Natalia and the Barnetts have accused each other of being abusive. The…
