In case you haven’t heard, Ellen Pompeo is back on the small screen this month with a whole new show titled Good American Family.
The series, which will also be starring The Morning Show‘s Mark Duplass, Dulé Hill and Sarayu Blue, is inspired by the real-life story of Natalia Grace, a seven-year-old Ukranian orphan who was adopted by Midwestern couple Kristine and Michael Barnett in 2010.
For those familiar with the case, you know that her adoption was riddled with scandal from the get-go. According to the Barnetts, Natalia, who was born with a rare form of dwarfism, was pretending to be much younger than she was and was actually a full-grown adult. More than that, her adoptive parents alleged that she was going after them and wanted to kill her parents and siblings.
In 2012, the Barnetts successfully petitioned to have Natalia’s age changed from eight to 22. They later moved her into an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, and fled to Canada. The Barnetts were later charged with neglect of a dependent.
Looking at Good American Family‘s description, the story is exactly what Pompeo’s show will dive into.
“Told from multiple points of view, as a means to explore issues of perspective, bias, and trauma, this compelling drama is inspired by the disturbing stories surrounding a Midwestern couple who adopts a girl with a rare form of dwarfism,” the description reads. “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.”
If you’re intrigued by the case and still haven’t seen much of Natalia’s story, then Good American Family might be an exciting next watch. More into documentaries instead? Her true story was also dived into in the original 2023 Investigation Discovery docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace.
The documentary, which is available on Hulu and Max, gives never-before-interviews with Natalia, Michael, and their circle of friends.
“In this stranger-than-fiction series that turns expectation on its head, we explore the question of whether Natalia Barnett is an exploited Ukrainian child with dwarfism or a dangerous adult masquerading as a child,” the docuseries teases in the description.
The series has three seasons out now and has bombshells after bombshells. Among them is Natalia getting candid about the emotional and physical abuse she suffered while living with the Barnetts.
In season two, another shocking moment happened when a blood test confirmed that Natalia was actually being truthful about her age when she was adopted, per The Hollywood Reporter. From the tests run by TruDiagnostic, the medical lab determined Natalia was 22 years old, and therefore between the ages of 6 and 9 when she was adopted in 2011. It also refutes Natalia’s legal age of 34, the age she would be if Barnett’s petition to make her 22 at the time were correct.
For those bombshells and many more shocking moments, tune into The Curious Case of Natalia Grace.
Before you go, click here to see titles for true crime movies that will leave you wanting more.
