A Tough Decision
A YouTube couple who has garnered popularity over their channel showing their journey through adopting a toddler from China have received heavy scrutiny and criticism from the internet as a result of relocating the child to another family due to unknown behavioral reasons. The child’s adopted mother, Myka Stauffer, has documented her experiences since 2017 making it one of the most important themes on her channel.
Consequently, her channel has gained massive amounts of viewers and high-profile sponsorships which has positioned her as an online influencer. Most people are questioning the ethics behind the relocation of the toddler, Huxley, because of the couple monetizing from the scenario and then seemingly quitting on the responsibility to care for the boy.
Myka, who became an advocate for international adoption, has arranged for attorney’s Thomas Taneff and Taylor Sayers to help handle the situation. According to the attorneys, Huxley will not be placed in the foster system, but instead will be a hand-picked family who Myka deems can handle and provide for Huxley’s needs.
“We are privy to this case and given the facts at hand, we feel this was the best decision for Huxley,” stated the attorneys in regards to the situation. “In coming to know our clients, we know they are a loving family and are very caring parents that would do anything for their children. Since his adoption, they consulted with multiple professionals in the healthcare and educational arenas in order to provide Huxley with the best possible treatment and care. Over time, the team of medical professionals advised our clients it might be best for Huxley to be placed with another family. This is devastating news for any parent.”
The Journey Through Adoption
The story began in Ohio where Myka and her husband James reside. They have been documenting their journey on YouTube since 2014 and their success has really kicked off since then. Myka has amassed at least 717,000 subscribers while the family’s channel, The Stauffer Life, has about 332,000. In July of 2016, the family began thinking of adopting and then followed with a post titled, “BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! || BABY #4.” In a video post, they declared they were trying to adopt a toddler from China.
Soon afterwards, Myka created 27-videos documenting the “adoption journey”, while also creating a particular 13-part series of “adoption updates.” Through the video posts, Myka revealed her feelings about the experience of adopting the toddler from China as well as the roller coaster of emotions it has caused her.
In addition, Myka linked a fundraiser in some of her videos in order to address Huxley’s unknown special needs. The link mentioned that every person who donated $5 would unlock a piece of a 1000-piece puzzle, which would result in an image of Huxley that she would show once it was completed. Myka also said she would write the names of everyone who donated in his baby book once the fundraiser was over.
Not All Is What It Seems
Myka and James would soon rise to internet stardom. She was finally able to travel to China to complete her adoption of Huxley and created a video to capture the moment. The video was so popular that it was viewed more than 55 million times!
Despite the heartwarming moment, not everything went through smoothly. Huxley was diagnosed with autism and had undergone applied behavior analysis therapy. Everything went downhill from here.
Followers began to notice that Huxley was not showing up in the couple’s videos anymore leading them to wonder what had happened to the toddler. Myka then posted a video discussing the trials and tribulations she encountered in dealing with Huxley’s needs. “We have hard days, lots of them. I wish autism and adoption trauma had a manual to direct you through it all,” Myka wrote.
Rising Concern For Huxley
After a period of Huxley’s absence, a combined 600 followers began questioning Huxley’s location since he stopped showing up on the couple’s channel and no update was given regardless of certain followers posting about the baby boy. Finally, the couple posted a video titled, “an update on our family” which revealed that they had placed Huxley in the care of another family. Myka stated that the decision was made for Huxley’s emotional well-being.
James mentioned that the boy had been placed in intense therapy over the course of a year to address his needs and even consulted with the help of medical opinions and consulted behavioral experts in regards to the ongoing dilemma.
The couple was met with supporters stating things like, “My heartfelt sympathies go out to you and your family,” and “Sometimes even when you do everything right, it can still go wrong. Maybe this was your purpose-to help Huxley on his journey and enable him to be where he needs to be. God Bless.”
The Internet Fires Back
However, the decision was also met with negativity stemming from the fact that the couple had made Huxley a huge part of their family’s monetized channel. “My heart aches for poor Huxley,” tweeted one person. “They dragged this poor boy all the way from China, making him start all over again, then giving up on him.”
Another person even began demanding that YouTube remove the videos that featured Huxley through change.org.petition. “These people need to stop exploiting and profiting off of Huxley immediately! The internet has your back Huxley. We hope you’re happy and thriving wherever you are.”
As a former fan of Myka eloquently stated, “I feel uneasy about children being on YouTube since there’s always the possibility of exploitation whether or not it’s intentional, and you never know who’s watching on the other side of the screen,” she said. “It’s unfair to them because they can’t consent to their personal lives being shown to the world.”
Whether you are supportive or against the couple’s decision, the takeaway here is that having access to the internet and posting content can have serious consequences even if it may not seem intentional. These are children after all and have no way of agreeing to their personal lives being made public.
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