Do you remember the famous Stauffers who took YouTube by storm by documenting their life as parents? Well, Myka Stauffer and James Stauffer amassed more than 1 million followers on their social media and their viewers adored the family. In the light of this, the couple decided to take a huge step – adoption. Fast forward to a couple of months, and they welcome Huxley Stauffer.
The Stauffers adopted Huxley, a 2.5-year-old child from China. The fans loved watching the little one and their content was booming. However, what goes up must come down. The happy days were not there to stay and the viewers quickly noticed that Huxley was nowhere to be seen. Moreover, the playlist of videos that featured him was also turned private. However, the couple soon spoke about this scandal.
Vox Media Studios took it upon themselves to explore this incident in depth with “An Update On Our Family” which is named after their infamous video in which they unraveled the mystery behind Huxley’s disappearance. The three-part docuseries brings the treasure out of the archives for the viewers. Let’s dive into this case.
The YouTubers had adopted Huxley in 2017. The truth, when discovered was, that the child was diagnosed with autism which pushed the Stauffers to find a new home for the child with special needs. However, this decision of theirs put them under a lot of scrutiny as they had previously confirmed that they were willing to go the extra mile.
In a now-deleted video, Myka emphasized that the family was well-equipped and they were not afraid of taking this route. At the time, she had said, “I don’t know what his medical diagnosis is gonna look like. How much schooling will he need? Will he need a little bit more hands-on? Will he be delayed? But if anything, my child is not returnable.” After claims like these, their decision to rehome Huxley was not met with warmth, but the opposite.
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The Stauffers uploaded a video on May 20, 2020, titled “An Update on our Family” after the viewers started questioning the absence of Huxley Stauffer. James Stauffer began explaining, “Once Huxley came home, there was a lot more special needs that we weren’t aware of, and that we were not told.” Myka continued,
“There’s not an ounce of our body that doesn’t love Huxley with all of our being. There wasn’t a minute that I didn’t try our hardest and I think what Jim is trying to say is that after multiple assessments, after multiple evaluations, numerous medical professionals have felt that he needed a different fit and that his medical needs, he needed more.”
Myka explained that she failed as a mother. She continued in the now-deleted video, “Do I feel like a failure as a mom? Like, 500 percent. The last couple of months have been like the hardest thing I could have ever imagined … after pouring our guts and our heart into this little boy.”
At the time, the famous Youtubers’ lawyers – Thomas Taneff and Taylor Sayers – told PEOPLE, “We are privy to this case and given the facts at hand, we feel this was the best decision for Huxley. 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.” However, it was too late for clarification, and their viewers had lashed out at them in every way imaginable.
For those wondering where is Huxley now, the little one is living with his new family and is away from the public eye. Even in the snippets included in the docuseries, his face blurred to conceal his identity. In a post on Myka’s Instagram, they revealed that Huxley was happy and thriving with his new mother who was experienced in dealing with kids with special needs.
