Where are Michael and Kristine Barnett now?
Natalia Grace and one set of her former adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, are the subject of a new series, “Good American Family.”
Their story played out in the media and has been the focus of two film projects: a documentary series, “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,” and now the Hulu drama.
The couple is played by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass in the series. In an interview with TODAY.com, Duplass said the role of Michael Barnett was a “joy,” because it allowed him to have “latitude” as an actor.
“This is a story about perspective, right? And because we see this story from so many different perspectives, that means the character of Michael Barnett is so many different things at any given time. And sometimes he seems sweet and intensely paternal and morally centered, and sometimes he feels a little bit manipulative, but sometimes he feels desperate,” he said — adding that the role is also “deeply unsettling.”
Showrunner Katie Robbins said the show was created without being in touch with the real people.
“We weren’t in touch with anybody, which made having the copious amounts of research that we have that much more essential,’ she said. TODAY.com has reached out to Michael and Kristine Barnett for comment and has not heard back by the time of publication.
Where are the real Michael and Kristine Barnett now? Here’s what to know.
Who are Michael and Kristine Barnett?
Michael and Kristine Barnett are a formerly married couple who adopted Natalia Grace, an orphan from Ukraine, in 2010, according to a 2021 document from the Court of Appeals in Indiana reviewing two aspects from the Barnetts’ 2021 trials obtained by TODAY.com.
They already had three biological sons, Jacob, Ethan and Wesley. In the book “The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius,” Kristine Barnett wrote about raising her eldest son, who she says in the book as diagnosed with autism at 2 and also is a math and science prodigy. The Washington Post called the memoir “amazing” and “compulsive reading.”
The Barnetts previously ran a charity called Jacob’s Place, which had the purpose of raising awareness about autism and funded “programs that bring joy to children on the spectrum,” according to an archived version of the charity’s website.
What happened between the Barnetts and Natalia Grace?
Michael and Kristine Barnett said they began to suspect that Grace, who has a rare form of dwarfism, was a grown woman masquerading as a little girl, per the court document from the Court of Appeals in Indiana obtained by TODAY.com.
They also accused Grace of threatening their family with violence, per the Court of Appeals document, which Grace has long denied.
Grace was psychologically and medically evaluated between 2010 and 2012, per the document from the Court of Appeals in Indiana.
In 2012, the Barnetts filed a successful petition to change Grace’s legal birth year from 2003 to 1989 to reflect an older age. The following year, they moved to Canada with their biological children and left Grace alone in a rented apartment to transition to “life as an adult,” according the court document from the Court of Appeals in Indiana.
Medical records, however, said Grace was not an adult. According to a 2019 affidavit of probable cause, Grace was examined by a doctor at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital that determined she was 8 years old in 2010. A 2012 skeletal survey at the same hospital determined she was 11. Per the affidavit, Michael Barnett admitted he and Kristine were aware of these examinations and test results when they left her alone in an apartment in 2013.
Cynthia and Antwan Mans, a Tippecanoe County couple, filed for legal guardianship of Grace in 2016. Michael Barnett filed an objection, “asserting that Natalia was an adult,” per the document from the Indiana Court of Appeals. This sparked years of legal back-and-forth.
In 2019, the Barnetts were each charged with six counts of neglect of a dependent and two counts of conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent. After a protracted legal process, Michael Barnett was acquitted of his charges after a jury trial in 2022 and the charges against his wife were dismissed.
Michael Barnett filed for divorce from Kristine Barnett in 2014, and their divorce was finalized in 2018, according to Indiana court records seen by TODAY.com.
What have they said about their time with Natalia Grace?
Kristine Barnett has denied accusations that Grace was abused while living with her and her ex-husband.
“Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family. She was not abused by anyone in my family. 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,” she wrote in part of a since-deleted Facebook post from January 2024.
She added that “any discipline of Natalia was very minimal” and “not out of the bounds of normal parenting.”
Kristine Barnett has since removed all posts about Natalia Grace from her Facebook page.
She did not participate in the Investigation Discovery documentary about Grace’s case, but Michael Barnett was interviewed for the docuseries.
In one dramatic scene, he and Grace discuss their past relationship. He accuses his ex-wife of emotional abuse and argues that he and Grace were both victims in their home.
“I had the same monster you did. I was exceptionally controlled and put down and threatened, was minimalized,” he told Grace. “Who I was was ripped from me, and I was guided and instructed to be exactly what she wanted me to be.”
In her deleted Facebook post, Kristine Barnett appeared to address her ex-husband’s allegations.
“Michael Barnett and Natalia Barnett may have the same monster but that monster is not me,” she wrote.
Grace no longer lives with either of the Barnetts. As of early 2025, she was living with another family, the DePauls, and working on becoming more independent, she told People in January.
Where are Michael and Kristine Barnett now?
As of 2023, Barnett appeared to still be living in Indianapolis, Indiana. A 2023 court document related to a speeding violation lists the same Indianapolis address for Barnett as was listed in the 2019 case involving the multiple charges of neglect against him and his ex-wife.
Barnett appears to have remarried and divorced following his split with Kristine Barnett.
According to Indiana court records, a petitioner listed as Michael Barnett with the same Indianapolis address as above filed for divorce against a respondent named Jennifer Barnett. Their divorce was finalized in 2022.
In a 2018 court document confirming her divorce from Michael Barnett, Kristine Barnett was listed as residing in New Hamburg, Ontario.
By 2019, she appears to have moved back to the United States. A court document listed her address as located in Indiana.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
