Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - This Youtube Family Vlog Channel Abandoned Their Kid - The Stauffer Family story

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

YouTubers Myka and James Stauffer faced widespread backlash after announcing they had "rehomed" their adopted son, Huxley, a child with autism from China who had featured prominently in their videos. The couple cited being unprepared for the extent of Huxley's special needs, despite earlier expressing confidence in handling such challenges. Critics accused them of exploiting Huxley for content and then giving him away when his needs became too challenging. The controversy led to the deletion of their family channel and Myka's retreat from social media.

Remember when this YouTube mommy vlogger got canceled by like the entire internet? Because I do. Now the woman's name is Micah and Micah is 20 something living in Ohio and she's a family vlogger like she vlogs her kids and stuff. And she and her husband, this guy, James, they're big on YouTube. They have hundreds of thousands of followers on their main channel. So they're doing pretty well. And one day around 2017, Micah and James screw up big time because they decide they

want to adopt a kid. Now James, he really isn't into this idea, probably because they already have three kids. However, eventually he does get on board after doing some research online, and they decide they're going to adopt a kid from China specifically. Jim and I have decided that we are adopt from China. We're going to be adopting a little boy from China. Now here's the thing about adopting a kid from China. The Chinese government has this rule that if you you're an American adopting a kid from there, the kid has to have special needs, which is a big commitment for any parent. But whatever, soon Micah and James are talking to this adoption agency,

who shows them some pictures of this Chinese-born kid, and they're like, okay, he's the one. Now, this kid apparently has a brain tumor and has brain damage. But Micah and James, they don't care. This is the one they want. For us, this new diagnosis didn't scare us. If anything, it kind of solidified that this is more our son than he has ever been. And so they start filming a bunch of vlog content, like 27 different videos,

telling their followers every detail about how hard international adoption is and how expensive it is to adopt a kid with special needs. I remember praying, like, am I strong enough to be his mama? Can I do this? Can I give him what he needs? And their whole audience is on board with this adoption journey. And Micah and James, they apparently start a go-fund me to help pay for this adoption. We are doing a little fundraiser for Little Huxley. But anyway, Micah and James fly to China and they pick up their new two and a half year old son and they bring him back to Ohio.

And they rename him Huxley. And they of course immediately start recording him, putting him in their family vlogs, putting him on social media. And for the record, I blurt out his face for my video because, you know, he's a kid. But in the originals, he was not blurred out. Now, just a reminder that these guys are family vloggers, so all of their videos are monetized. Some of them are even sponsored by some big brands. But anyway, they get Huxley home and they start raising him. And it turns out that his special needs are no joke. And they're a lot harder than Micah and James had expected.

We are having meltdowns because we've already had breakfast, and we just want to keep eating, and it's not time to eat. So we're going to sit down. And like he's apparently biting, and he's, pinching and he's banging his head against the wall and you know other behaviors that aren't exactly explained by a brain tumor and so eventually they get him re-evaluated and they find out that Huxley has a different medical issue than they were first told. He has not a brain tumor but level three autism which is the most severe form of autism

and he's going to need assistance for the rest of his life. Just because things are hard doesn't mean they're bad. It just means it takes a lot of Now, back when Micah and James first adopted Huxley, they were warned by their doctor that adopting a child with his condition is going to be extremely difficult. Probably one of the most difficult things they'll ever face. But Micah specifically was sure she could handle it. So when I heard all of the things that that doctor was telling us, it kind of went in one ear and out the other. But then she says something in a vlog that the internet is eventually going to destroy her over. If anything, my child is not returnable.

Not returnable. So yeah, her kid, Huxley, is not returnable. Until. Fast forward a few years to 2019. And Micah and James and their kids, they're still vlogging on YouTube, and they're still one big happy family. But then, their audience, the one who has stuck with them for years through this whole adoption journey, they noticed something weird. Huxley kind of slowly disappears from their content. Like he's not in their vlogs as much anymore.

Mike and James are no longer posting about him as much on their social media. He used to be the center of like their whole brand and now he's nowhere to be found. And around this time, they have yet another baby. And while there's all this vlogging attention on their new baby, Huxley is still appearing on camera less and less. Then one day he stops appearing completely. Like he's no longer in their content at all. And of course the fans are like, what the hell, where the hell's Huxley?

And yeah, they're right to ask. I mean, Micah and James spent years sticking him in their videos, making money, vlogging his adoption. And suddenly he's just gone with no explanation? And so months go by. And now it's 2020. And still, there's no sign of Huxley. But then, out of nowhere, Micah and James make a video and they drop a bomb on everyone. This is by far the hardest video James and I have ever publicly had to make.

So they finally break their silence and they tell their audience that after raising Huxley for two years, they've decided that they just can't do it anymore. Raising a special needs son is just too hard. Once Huxley came home, there was a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of. And to be fair, raising a kid with level three autism, I'm sure that's extremely difficult. So they're not wrong about that. I mean, if only someone had warned them. So when I heard all of the things that that doctor was telling us,

it kind of went in one ear and out the other. But anyway, so they say that they've decided to re-home Huxley and they returned him to the adoption agency. Not returnable. And they claim that they had initially kept it a secret from their audience for so many months to protect his privacy, Which, they've been forcing a camera in this kid's face for years, like vlogging every moment of his life, and now suddenly they want to protect his privacy.

And yeah, their audience is quick to point this out, and boy are they pissed. And so naturally, this story blows the fuck up. Like YouTube commentators are talking about it, news outlets are reporting on it, it's getting mainstream attention, and brands that worked with them suddenly start cutting ties with them. Because this is a really bad look. You see, to the outside world, it looks like Micah and James adopted this special needs Chinese kid just so they could parade him around on their family vlog channel and make money off of him. But when the reality of raising him got too hard, they then decided to abandon him and sent him back.

I'm not saying this is definitively true. I'm just saying this is the general public perception of what is going on. In fact, people are so angry at them. They start calling police to get them to go and do a well-fellate. this check on their remaining biological kids. And luckily, the police don't find anything suspicious or anything wrong. And so it must feel like shit to Micah and James, because a month or so later, after all this backlash, Micah releases this lengthy written apology on her Instagram. And that is pretty much her very last post on the internet, like ever. They take down all their

vlogs and all their videos, they delete their YouTube channel. Her Instagram is still up, but from what I can see, all the pictures with Huxley and them have been deleted. And that is the last anyone is heard from Micah or James. Like they have completely disappeared from what I can see. Now Huxley, on the other hand, he is reportedly being raised by a new, loving family, and he is apparently doing very well in his life. So, good for him.