It’s been four years since Myka and James Stauffer gave their adopted son Huxley back to China. The family influencers were harshly criticized afterward. Now a documentary about the scandal is coming out.
The controversial decision of YouTube couple Myka and James Stauffer to give away their adopted autistic son Huxley caused international waves four years ago. The case is now being examined in the new documentary “An Update on Our Family”.
Between 2016 and 2020, the Stauffers made videos detailing the adoption process and Huxley’s integration into their family, enjoying a large viewership and growing popularity on YouTube that imploded with the advent of giving the child away.
They justified their decision in 2020 by saying that they could not meet the increasing number of special needs of the autistic boy. The Daily Mail also reported on this. Before the adoption, Myka Stauffer had stressed in a YouTube video that her future child “cannot be returned”, regardless of its condition.
In an article for Parade, Myka Stauffer wrote about the surprise of discovering that Huxley’s file was “inaccurate” after he arrived at the family home. The boy had other health issues in addition to his autism that had not been communicated beforehand. The child was shown a lot at first, but after a while viewers noticed that the boy was barely visible in the videos.
In the “family update” on their YouTube channel, the Stauffers said Huxley is living with a more suitable “forever family” and has even been given a new name. They stressed that he is “thriving” and that his “new mom” has medical training.
The Stauffers found themselves in a constant shitstorm with no way out. They were accused, among other things, of exploiting the child and of only going through with the adoption for social media. They had to delete all of their accounts.
This is now also being addressed in the new documentary “An Update on Our Family”, for which there is now a trailer. In it, friends, acquaintances and other YouTubers who have had dealings with the Stauffers speak. One vlogger said: “Having children makes for good content, it’s as simple as that.”
Myka, the mother of the family of four, is said to have said before the scandal that adoption from China would be easier and quicker. Other people involved in the film suggest that the YouTuber’s adoption of the learning-disabled child was a calculation to land “the next big thing”.
The Stauffers now live completely without social media and without YouTube. According to the Daily Mail, the father of the family still runs a semi-current car channel, while the other channels of the once successful influencer family have been cleared out.
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