The story of Natalia Grace has been told many times. It’s been the subject of countless podcasts and a 2023 docuseries, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, which spanned two years and recounted Grace’s story in real time. In America, Grace’s tale made headlines over and over again. So, you’d be forgiven for thinking: was it necessary to put yet another spotlight on this story? Ellen Pompeo – whose first role after her 20-year run on Gray’s Anatomy will be playing Grace’s adoptive mother in Good American Family – certainly thinks so. “We’re giving Natalia a voice and maybe a window into what she was going through. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen a story that’s told from the point of view of someone who is so often villainised.”

Speaking at the BAFTA premiere last month – prior to the eight-episode series landing in full on Disney+ in the UK on 7 May 2025 (some episodes are available to stream now) – Pompeo explained that the Good American Family team used “the true story in the docuseries as a framework” but ultimately wanted to challenge viewers subconsciously. “What we’re asking the audience to do with this show is ask yourselves why you believe what you believe, what biases we hold, and why do you watch something and I watch the very same thing and we both come away with two completely different opinions.”

The series follows the real-life events of Natalia Grace, who lives with a rare form of dwarfism, and her adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett. Pompeo stars as Kristine Barnett, a woman who was previously depicted in the American media as the epitome of a good mother, having fostered a disabled child while also supporting a son with severe autism. However, that image is quickly shattered when she accuses Grace of lying about her age and faking her identity, with Grace hitting back with claims of neglect and abandonment.  

Pompeo appears alongside Mark Duplass, as her husband Michael Barnett, and Greenwich-born actress Imogen Faith Reid, who plays Grace. Talking about her first-ever role on set, Reid says: “I had an incredible movement coach because my dwarfism is different to Natalia’s dwarfism. I wanted to make sure that the movement was in my body and it felt genuine, and that I wasn’t trying to be something that I wasn’t.

“We see multiple variations of Natalia. In the first four episodes, it’s told from Kristine’s perspective and Natalia is this villainised character, she’s very manipulative and is always one step ahead. As an actor, you’ve got to be on the ball and know when she changes [which] was really fun to do with my first acting role. I was really happy to [portray] Natalia’s perspective because I was so passionate about […] fighting for justice and her voice finally [being] heard.” 

Duplass adds: “Michael and Kristine come from this place where they have fixed their first son and feel they can do anything. For them, the feeling of saving this girl comes with this subconscious expectation that she’s going to be so appreciative. [They think] they’re going to receive so much praise not only from the community but from her. When this child, who is clearly traumatised, starts to act her out – granted we don’t know what went on in that house – […] it can become something quite terrifying.”

Want to know more about Natalia Grace before you sink your teeth into the new series? Read on for our no-spoilers primer. 

Who is Natalia Grace?

Imogen Faith Reid as Natalia Grace

Born in Ukraine in 2003, Natalia Grace’s mother, Anna Volodymyrivna Gava, placed her into an orphanage shortly after her birth, where she was diagnosed with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a rare form of dwarfism that affects mobility, sight and hearing. In 2008, when she was approximately five years old, she was adopted by the Ciccone family but was returned to the orphanage in early 2010 for alleged disruptive behaviour. In the spring of 2010, she was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett and took the legal name ‘Natalia Grace Barnett’.

Who are Kristine and Michael Barnett? 

Kristine and Michael Barnett are an Indiana couple who had three biological sons – Jacob, Wesley, and Ethan – when they adopted Natalia Grace. Jacob, who is severely autistic and reportedly has an IQ of 170, began college at just 10 years old despite Kristine allegedly being told by doctors that he would never talk or act like a typical child. In 2013, Kristine published a memoir about raising her son, The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism. The couple divorced in 2018.

What happened to Natalia Grace in the Barnetts’ care? 

Just months into her adoption, the Barnetts suspected Grace was lying about her age, assuming she was actually in her 20s despite being told she was roughly six or seven. Michael alleged in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace that she hid knives in her room and threatened Kristine, although Grace has since said she was actually suffering abuse at the hands of her adoptive mother. 

Having convinced themselves she was older than she claimed, in 2012 the Barnetts successfully petitioned the Marion County Court in Indiana to change Natalia's Ukrainian birth records to 1989, which legally changed her age from eight years old to 22. As a result, the Barnetts removed Grace from their home and put her in her own apartment in Indiana as they planned to relocate to Canada with their three sons. They later claimed to have helped her transition into adult life, but Grace said in the docuseries that the apartment wasn’t fully accessible – she couldn’t reach certain things and didn’t have a phone.

Antwon and Cynthia Mans, a local couple who had befriended Grace, noticed that she struggled to live on her own and filed for legal guardianship in 2016, while the Barnetts were simultaneously charged with neglect of a dependent. 

Why was her age changed? 

Grace’s age was reverted when courts, during the neglect case against the Barnetts, sourced birth records from Ukraine which supported her original birth date of 2003, meaning she was roughly nine when the Barnetts adopted her and in her early teens when they abandoned her. Both Kristine and Michael were charged with neglect of a dependent and conspiracy to commit neglect, but Michael was found not guilty in October 2022 and all charges against Kristine were dismissed in 2023. 

Where are Natalia Grace and the Barnetts now? 

The Mans family said Grace did not exhibit sociopathic behaviour while she lived with them, but Grace accused them of abuse and using her for money. Since then, she has left the Mans to live with another family, the DePauls, who had tried to adopt her before the Barnetts. 

Kristine and Michael Barnett filed for divorce in 2014, which was finalised in 2018, and both remain living in Indiana. While Kristine has rarely spoken about Natalia Grace since charges were dropped, Michael appeared in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, claiming that he too was manipulated and controlled by Kristine.

How does Good American Family end? 

As promised, no spoilers here, but what the cast have promised is that you will likely change your opinion as the season develops. Duplass, who plays Michael Barnett, says: “Let yourself be a piece of emotional driftwood on the river. This show is meant to implicate you for having an opinion and then realising you were a bit too quick to judge. That’s part of the fun and don’t feel bad about that.” 

The first five episodes of Good American Family are available on Disney+ now, with the last three airing weekly until 7 May 2025. 

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