The YouTube Couple Adopted an Autistic Child, Made Content With Him, and Boosted Their Views for Years, Then They Placed Him in a New Home

The Stauffer tragedy

Lioness Rue
6 min readDec 1, 2022

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Image by Freepik

Myka and James Stauffer sat in front of the camera, announcing the controversial news that their son was no longer with them.

The couple had just placed their adopted son with a new family.

“Do I feel like a failure as a mom? Like 500%.

Anything that happened in the home that was hard for Huxley that’s not fair for me to put out there publicly that’s his privacy.

This decision has caused so many people heartbreak, and I’m sorry for letting down so many women that looked up to me as a mother. “ — Myka

Myka and James Were Youtubers

Myka and James Stauffer — image from Insider/YouTube

Myka and James Stauffer were vloggers with two personal and one family channels.

They created content for their family channel on YouTube by documenting their life as a large family.

Myka posted content like pregnancy updates, mommy hacks, and vlogs.

Myka and James had birthed three children. Then, the two began talking about adopting a child in May 2016.

The couple specifically wanted a child with special needs. Myka stated in a YouTube video that she was very comfortable dealing with children who have special issues.

Myka went on to say she was comfortable with 99% of the possible conditions that a special needs child could develop.

So, Myka posted videos getting into detail about the adoption process.

Myka and James had found a child to adopt from China. And from the adoption agency, they found out that the child had autism.

Although the couple was initially affected by the realization and scared, they still wanted to adopt the boy.

The Adoption Doctor Warned the Stauffers

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Lioness Rue

Blending true crime, history, and psychology to tell stories. Inspired by the magic of Love!