YouTuber, Myka Stauffer revealed that she and her husband James re-homed their autistic
adopted son from China with a new family after making content with him on their social media
channels for years.
What’s up?
It’s Emile Ennis Jr. here with Clevver News and hundreds of thousands of subscribers have
followed Myka Stauffer and her husband James along their journey as they adopted their
son Huxley from China nearly three years ago.
But in recent months, Huxley had gone missing from their social media posts, causing fans
to wonder what happened.
Myka and James finally opened up to their fans about the hard decision they had to make
to rehome Huxley in their most recent YouTube video.
The announcement has caused a firestorm on social media amongst fellow creators and their
fans.
Many are questioning the ethics of the YouTube family’s decision after they spent years
sharing intimate details of their son Huxley’s life on a monetized channel.
And before we get too far into the details of this story, I wanted to issue a brief trigger
warning because we are going to be talking about some heavier topics here involving the
adoption process, disabilities, and more.
So please only continue watching if you feel comfortable doing so.
Ok, so in Myka and James’ video, they talk about Huxley’s unspecified behavioral issues
and how his autism proved to be more difficult to manage than they thought.
James continued on explaining that they tried to get Huxley the help he needed and said
“For us, it's been really hard hearing from the medical professionals, a lot of their
feedback, and things that have been upsetting.”
Myka chimed in adding that both they and the medical professionals felt that Huxley needed
more.
And Myka went to reveal how this entire experience has made her feel.
And Myka continued on and said quote, “The last couple months have been like the hardest
thing I could have ever imagined choosing to do because ultimately, after pouring our
guts and our heart into this little boy.
He is thriving, he is happy, he is doing really well, and his new mommy has medical professional
training, and it is a very good fit.”
And just in case you aren’t familiar with Myka’s channel, even before her family adopted
Huxley in 2017, she had made his story a key part of her channel, which has exploded in
popularity and landed her several high-profile sponsorships.
She has also positioned herself as an advocate for international adoption in several national
news outlets all while producing 27 videos about their “adoption journey,” including
a 13-part series of “adoption updates.”
But in recent months she started to share some of the struggles their family was facing
like in this post with Huxley where she wrote quote, “On social media and Youtube we rarely
show the behaviors or the hard stuff, because we try our best to respect our son’s privacy
and dignity.
We have hard days, lots of them.
I wish autism and adoption trauma had a manual to direct you through it all.”
And now their fans know they made the tough decision to find Huxley a new home, and people
have a lot to say about it online.
Some people are so upset over this they are trying to cancel Myka and her family.
One fan wrote quote, “Okay but this myka stauffer stuff makes me really sad bc I’ve
watched her since before she adopted Huxley and when I watched the video it made absolutely
NO sense?
Your child was too hard to handle?
So you.... gave him back?
Like.... a gift receipt.
That poor sweet thing”
Another person tweeted saying quote, “I could only watch half of it as she cried fake
tears.
So disgusting.
If her biological kid gets diagnosed with autism will she abandon that kid too?
#cancelmykastauffer #mykastauffer”
And another person wrote quote, “You’re gross for abandoning your adopted son because
he didn’t fit into your cute lifestyle.”
And other fans took to the comments of old sponsored posts on Myka’s Instagram like
this one where she wrote quote, “This adoption hasn’t been the easiest ride.
We have had so many bumps along the way!
But it’s by far one of my favorite journeys I have ever embarked on!
I love everything about this little boy and I wouldn’t trade him for anything!”
Fans are commenting things like “This post didn’t age well” and “Apparently you
would trade him for something ... because you did.”
Asset: screenshot
And now a Change.org petition was created demanding that the Stauffer family remove
all monetized content of Huxley from YouTube and it already has thousands of signatures.
But some of their other fans are standing by their side lending support to the Stauffer
family during this time writing things like “Wow this must be so heartbreaking, I’ve
watched your journey and I am devastated for you all and your other children too.
I hope time heals x”
Another fan added quote, “I’m so heartbroken for all of you.
I couldn’t imagine having to make that choice, but I’ve seen how much you all loved little
Hux.
Sometimes making the right decision is one of the hardest things you can ever do.
I will keep you all in my prayers.
I know you all are hurting so much”
And this fan chimed in saying quote, “so many mixed emotions.
I don’t mean to be mean at all.
But it kills me to know that Huxley is gonna have to start all over.
My heart is shattered.
But with that being sad, we have no idea what actually went on.
I’m praying for your family and Huxley.”
So clearly, no one really knows exactly what challenges the Stauffer family faced, but
it’s clear that the internet has a lot to say about their decision.
And I want to know what you guys think about this whole situation.
Feel free to share your thoughts down in the comments below.
And for news on another famous family, click right over here for more Clevver News.
I’m your host Emile Ennis Jr., bye guys!