Good American family; Disney about Natalia Grace

[EasterParadeHats]

Has anyone watched this? On really confused about something things

I think with the new family it's maybe a bit of both. They genuinely care for her but also see the advantages of having her money coming into the household.

I think that’s probably true @Littletreefrog, plus they look like they needed the money (rather than selfishly wanting it).

How it paned out it seems they weren’t great to her actually.

I agree having googled but won't spoil it in case it's a part of the last episode

@MrsPeterHarris yes I went on Disney last night and found episode 7, glad I had this thread as I’d not have thought to look again.

its such a strange and sad story, I think k the new family is strange too, so adamant that she is “her mother” also putting the money into her account seemed dodgy

So when they thought she was seven she was actually 10?

The thing is if medical professionals at the time agreed she was an adult then the family obviously had reason to think that too. I need to find the documentary though! I think Ellen Pompeo playing the mum may have swayed me to sympathise with her 😂

They knew full well she was probably a child, they just got enough people to agree with them. Micheal has since admitted this.

Michael comes across as incredibly thick.

And regardless of Natalia, they are terrible parents for taking a random child into their home on a whim without thinking about how it might impact their children.

Oh wow I wasn't aware of this.

No her birth mother would have been 10 if Natalia was born the year the court changed her age to.

I think we were just asking how old was she when they adopted her but I'm confused now!

Am wayyy too invested in this story, but just finished watching The Curious Case of Natalia Grace where the real Natalia tells her story.

Just wow - am thinking it would never happen in the UK as there would be stringent background checks pre adoption, and unsuitable adults would not be allowed to adopt.

Adoption seems to be more of a business in the US

I just watched episode 7 of Good American Family and think I've found the documentary on you tube so about to watch that!

Oh sorry, I think she was around 7/8, she was born in 2003 and I think (not certain) the adoption was around 2010/11

What is the best documentary to watch for this?

Good American Family is a great drama, but the Curious Case of Natalia Grace is more factual, although arguably the documentary is full of drama.

Thanks

I’m on episode 4…this is so strange! I wonder how much of it really is true?! I’m surprised that the family didn’t have better support from the school and social workers as isn’t it quite common for fostered or adopted kids to have challenging behaviour? I’m surprised the parents weren’t prepared for that. It seemed as if they didn’t want to put in the time and effort with caring for a very complex child. However I do sympathise as they don’t seem to have any support offered. When they adopted Natalia it seemed as if they thought it would be easy and she would be a new ‘project’ for the mum to work on, just like her son. The period and pubic hair is very suspicious, and maybe she was a year or two older than they thought….very strange!! I wonder how accurate the tests that determined her real age are

I think they had just lost an adoptive child due to family coming forward and were railroaded into taking Natalia - including having no idea she had a walking frame or being allowed to meet the mysterious previous adopters. Adoption in America is very different to the UK - plus the different State regulations. It was treated in such a light hearted way in Friends and Modern Family (meet a pregnant girl for mutual vetting) which never sat right with me. It’s a brutal process in the UK where I believe there are far less relinquished babies. Wonder if they will touch on why Natalia was adopted if they found her birth mother.

She was put up for adoption because many single mothers in Eastern European countries were persuaded to put their kids in Orphanages especially if they had disabilities. Do you remember the horrific Romanian Orphanages that were all over the news at one point.

I'm watching the documentary and convinced Michael is disingenuous. He seems like he's lying and doesn't come across well. Kristine doesn't come across well to me either. It's also clear Natalia was a bit of a nightmare but potentially an abused child. Then again it would be really difficult to be in that situation.

am quite enjoying this

Mark Duplass who plays Michael is an excellent actor, he’s in the Morning
Show

the one big(gest) plot hole to me though, I know adoption is very different in the US but if you’re asked to adopt a child whose previous adoption had failed, you’d ask for details why wouldn’t you. Surely! Maybe they were did and were lied to in RL

Closed adoption means they didn’t have access to that information though. They weren’t even allowed to ask the names of Natalia’s previous adoptive parents, but Kristine found their names on a luggage tag.