Is Good American Family a True Story? Revisiting the Real-Life Natalia Grace Case That Inspired the Ellen Pompeo-Led Series

Warning: Good American Family spoilers ahead!

The bizarre story of Natalia Grace is the inspiration for Hulu’s limited series Good American Family.

Grace’s case first made headlines when her adoptive parents Kristine and Michael Barnett were charged with neglect after reportedly abandoning their daughter in an Indiana apartment before moving to Canada and cutting off contact.

The Barnetts responded with shocking claims of their own: They alleged that Grace, who has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, was actually an adult masquerading as a child. The couple went so far as to have her birth year legally changed from 2003 to 1989 and accused Grace of being a “sociopath.”

The turmoil in Grace’s life didn’t end with the Barnetts. She moved in with Cynthia and Antwon Mans, the former of whom is played by Christina Hendricks in Good American Family, who eventually adopted her in 2023. But later that year, Grace left in the middle of the night while the Manses faced allegations of abuse and fraud. Grace has declined to comment on these allegations and Cynthia and Antwon have not responded to requests for comment.

Since leaving the Manses, Grace — whose age was estimated to be 22 by a blood test in 2023 — has been working towards living independently and clearing her name.

Hulu’s new series brings Grace’s time with the Barnetts — and the aftermath that played out in the media and the courtroom — back into the spotlight. The eight-part dramatic series — which stars Ellen Pompeo as Kristine Barnett in her first television role since Grey’s Anatomy — tells the twisted, true crime story through multiple perspectives, resulting in a show that Pompeo told PEOPLE presents Grace and the Barnetts’ stories in an “intentional and thoughtful” way.

The series, which also stars Mark Duplass and Imogen Faith Reid, premiered on Hulu on March 19.

But how much of Good American Family is true? Here’s a closer look at the real story of Natalia Grace, from her adoption saga with the Barnetts to her life today.

Who is Natalia Grace?

Grace was born in the Ukraine in 2003 and was placed up for adoption shortly after. She was brought to the United States via an international adoption in 2008 and lived with the New Hampshire couple Dyan and Gary Ciccone.

However, the Ciccones relinquished their parental rights within a year because of Grace’s supposed disruptive behavior, according to court documents. Grace was then adopted by Indiana couple Kristine and Michael in 2010.

What happened after the Barnetts adopted Natalia Grace?

When the Barnetts — who also have three sons — adopted Grace in 2010, they believed she was a 6-year-old girl. Over the next two years, however, the couple began to suspect that Grace was much older than she claimed. The couple alleged that Grace had pubic hair, adult teeth and was menstruating, according to the Investigation Discovery docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace.

“It’s obvious that her records were falsified. This is an adult masquerading as a child,” Michael said in a November 2019 appearance on Dr. Oz’s True Crime show.

Not only was Grace an adult posing as a child, according to the Barnetts, but she was also a “con artist” and a “sociopath” who was determined to harm their family. The Barnetts accused Grace of trying to poison Kristine’s coffee, dragging her towards an electric fence and placing clear thumbtacks face-up on the stairs so that the family would step on them.

“She threatened to stab my sons, drag their bodies outside and bury them underneath the deck,” Michael alleged in the ID documentary.

But Grace has repeatedly and consistently denied lying about her age and attempting to harm the Barnetts, calling their allegations against her “shocking and frustrating.” She opened up about the Barnetts’ accusations in a rare interview with PEOPLE in 2025.

“I feel like I have to defend myself and be like, ‘Do I look like somebody that could push someone twice my size into a fence? Do I look like I could even grip a knife?’ ” she asked, referring to how her dwarfism limits the mobility of her fingers. “I feel like I was brainwashed by the Barnetts. Kristine coached me to lie about my age and say I tried to murder my parents. Why would you do that to your child?”

In 2012, the Barnetts successfully petitioned the Marion County probate court to legally change Grace’s birth year from 2003 to 1989. The process, which is known as “re-aging,” transformed her from an 8-year-old to a 22-year-old in the eyes of the law. Then, in 2013, the Barnetts moved Grace into an apartment in Lafayette, Ind. — before moving with their three sons to Canada and cutting off contact with their adopted daughter.

What were the Barnetts accused of?

In 2013, the Barnett family settled in Canada so that their then-15-year-old son Jacob could pursue graduate studies in physics, per the Journal & Courier. The same year, Kristine published a memoir about Jacob — who is on the autism spectrum and was considered a science and math prodigy — titled The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism.

The book gained national press, including a review in The Washington Post and an appearance on Katie Couric’s daytime talk show Katie.

Years later, the Barnetts were in the spotlight for a much darker reason. In September 2019, Grace’s case gained national attention when Kristine and Michael were charged with neglect of a dependent and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent. The charges came after an investigation, during which Grace told police she had not seen her adoptive parents since they moved to Canada in 2013, per Oprah Daily.

While an Indiana judge dismissed the charges based on Grace’s legal age, prosecutors were able to bring charges against the former couple (they divorced in 2013) for neglect based on Grace’s disabilities, per the Journal & Courier. However, Michael was found not guilty in October 2022, and Kristine’s charges were ultimately dismissed in March 2023, per WTHR.

The Barnetts’ legal proceedings may have ended there, but the accusations against them did not. During the second season of ID’s The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, Grace accused her former adoptive mother of physical abuse, including allegedly hitting her with a belt, pepper-spraying her in the eyes and giving her three times the recommended dose of a prescribed medication. Michael also claimed in an episode that he was manipulated and mistreated by his former wife.

Kristine denied the allegations of abuse in a 2024 public Facebook post, writing that Grace was “a very much loved and cared for member” of their family.

“She was not abused by anyone in my family,” Kristine wrote. “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.”

How did Natalia Grace end up with a third adoptive family?

Grace befriended a neighbor named Cynthia Mans after the Barnetts moved her into the Lafayette apartment. Within days of meeting, Cynthia invited Grace to move in with her and her husband, pastor Antwon Mans, and their 10 children.

The Manses initially charged Grace $250 in monthly rent, as Cynthia testified in court, per the Journal & Courier. In 2016, the couple petitioned to become her legal guardians but they were denied by a judge who cited that she was an adult in the eyes of the law.

In 2023, the Manses were able to adopt Grace and she became more involved in the family’s religious life and was asked to help care for her younger siblings.

“I learned how to be a mother,” Grace told PEOPLE in 2025. “I helped raise three of them since they were babies.”

Is Natalia Grace still with the Mans family?

Grace’s time with the Mans family was not without its problems. Tensions began to emerge as she developed more independence and a romantic life with her boyfriend, Neil, whom she had met online. When Antwon discovered the two were exchanging messages over social media, he allegedly took her phone away and forbade her to continue contact with her boyfriend.

“Something ain’t right with Natalia,” Antwon said in the docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks. “She’s got this dude online. He turned her against us. She’s ready to go to hell with gasoline panties on.”

Additionally, several witnesses — including neighbors and friends — claimed on the docuseries that they had seen the Manses physically abuse Grace. These individuals alleged the couple whipped her with a belt, slapped her in the face and locked her in a room to assault her. However, Grace declined to confirm or deny the incidents and the Manses did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

Near the end of 2023, Grace’s boyfriend Neil and Nicole and Vince DePaul, who once wanted to adopt Grace, helped her leave the Mans’ home in the middle of the night.

“It was an emotional time,” Grace said in the docuseries about her dramatic departure. “I had to spread my wings.”

How old is Natalia Grace?

In January 2024, a DNA test seemed to reveal that Grace was, in fact, a child when the Barnetts adopted her — despite their claims otherwise.

The blood test, which was conducted by the medical lab TruDiagnostic, showed that Grace was approximately 22 years old at the time. (The lab work was done in August 2023, when Grace believed she was around 20 years old.) The results of the test determined that Grace was 9 years old when she was adopted by the Barnetts in 2010.

“This one little piece of paper throws every single lie that the Barnetts has said right into the trash with a match,” Grace said in an episode of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks.

She continued, “It just proves that I was not lying about my age. They ignored everything that was pointing to the truth just so they could create this stupid lie. They knew it and they still did what they did.”

Where is Natalia Grace now?

Since Grace left the Mans’ household, she’s been living with the DePauls and their daughter Mackenzie in upstate New York. The DePauls, who are also little people, had previously tried to adopt Grace in 2009 but were denied.

The couple have helped Grace — who struggles with anxiety, ADHD and PTSD — receive therapy to cope with her past traumas. And while their time together was initially “bumpy,” according to Nicole, the couple insist that Grace is non-violent and “super sweet.”

“When you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don’t just get rid of them when they don’t fit into your puzzle,” Nicole told PEOPLE in 2025.

With the help of the DePauls, Grace is working towards living independently one day. After being homeschooled previously, she is studying for her GED and learning to drive — and has hopes of one day becoming a grade school teacher, a mother and a wife.

“I’m really just trying to take control of my life and stop letting other people control it. I feel like I’m becoming this new person,” Grace told PEOPLE. “This new version feels amazing—feels free.”