UN-ADOPTED

When YouTubers Myka and James Stauffer adopted a child from China, they shared every step of the journey with their followers. Now, their story has become a warning of what can happen when influencer and adoption cultures collide.

- Caitlin Moscatello

The video started like so many others. YouTubers Myka and James Stauffer, in the glow of camera-friendly lighting, staring into the lens. But this time, instead of updating their roughly one million subscribers on their “kiddos” or Myka’s “mommy morning routine”, the couple had somber expressions. “This is by far the hardest video James and I have ever publicly had to make,” said Myka. Wearing white shirts that matched the linen on the bed where they sat, the Stauffers revealed they had placed Huxley, their then almost-five-year-old autistic son from China – whose adoption process and the life they had documented for more than three years – with “his now new forever family”. Myka and James tearfully explained that the extent of Huxley’s needs had not been clear when they’d adopted him, that it was never supposed to happen this way, and that they loved him.

Some viewers were sympathetic, but the video, which was posted in late May, also fuelled outrage. The Stauffers lost thousands of subscribers, and Facebook and Instagram account sprung up demanding “Justice for Huxley” and “Cancel Myka & James Stauffer”. Brands that had worked with Myka to promote their products distanced themselves. They were even investigated by police after detractors suggested their other children might be endangered. In the kindest light, Myka, now 33, and James, 35, were painted as well-meaning but naive parents who’d got in over their heads. But viewed in the harshest light, they were fame-hungry narcissists who’d exploited a child for clicks and profit only to discard him when caring for him proved too difficult.