‘Good American Family’ True Story: Who Is the Real-Life Family?

In 2009, Orphan became a cult classic and unique horror — a film about a family that adopts a 9-year-old Russian girl named Esther, who turns out to be a cold-blooded 33-year-old woman with dwarfism posing as a child. Now, Hulu is releasing Good American Family.

The miniseries is told from several different perspectives to “explore issues of perspective, bias and trauma,” according to Hulu’s description. The show focuses on a Midwestern couple who adopts a young girl with a rare form of dwarfism, “but as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, mystery emerges around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is.”

“As they defend their family from the daughter they’ve grown to believe is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom,” the rest of the logline reads.

Below, learn about the real-life story that inspired Good American Family. 

Good American Family Release Date

The first two out of eight episodes of Good American Family will be available to stream on Hulu on March 19, 2025. Each episode after those will drop every week.

Who Is in the Good American Family Cast?

Good American Family has two major stars at the helm: Greys Anatomy alum Ellen Pompeo and Creep and The Morning Show star Mark Duplass play Kristine and Michael Barnett, respectively.

Actress Imogen Faith Reid is playing the role of Natalia Grace. Recurring guest stars include Dulé Hill, Christina Hendricks, Sarayu Blue and Jenny O’Hara.

True Story Behind Good American Family

According to Hulu’s logline for the show, Good American Family is inspired “by the disturbing stories surrounding a Midwestern couple, who adopts a girl with a rare form of dwarfism.”

The truth behind the miniseries is about the real-life Barnett family, who shared their perspective about adopting Natalia Grace in the ID docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace. Natalia lives with the genetic disorder known as spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, which affects a person’s physical stature.

Michael and Kristine adopted Natalia in 2010 and accused her of being an adult posing as a child. Two years later, the Barnetts successfully petitioned a court to change Natalia’s birth date on her certificate to indicate 1989, which legally changed her age from 8 years old to 22 years old at the time.

In 2013, the Barnett family left Natalia in a Lafayette, Indiana, apartment alone and moved away to Canada. Kristine and Michael then faced criminal charges for the neglect of a dependent in 2019. However, Michael’s charges were dismissed in 2022, and Kristine’s were dropped in 2023.

Prosecutors in the neglect case tracked down Natalia’s birth mother in Ukraine, and they found hospital records from Ukraine that supported Natalia’s claim that she was born in 2003, not 1989 like the Barnetts claimed.

Antwon and Cynthia Mans took in Natalia after seeing her struggle to live on her own in Indiana. According to PEOPLE, Natalia left the Manses to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, who tried to adopt Natalia in 2009 but were rejected.

Where Is Natalia Grace Now?

Natalia currently lives in upstate New York with the DePauls, per PEOPLE. Nicole told the publication that Natalia was diagnosed with a behavioral condition known as reactive attachment disorder (RAD), which is common in children who spent time in an orphanage.

“Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah,” Nicole pointed out. “[But] 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.”