In case you weren’t already concerned about the state of social media, you’re about to be. If you weren’t aware of the Stauffer family before, an upcoming documentary featuring the formerly YouTube-famous family called An Update From Our Family is about to change that. The doc initially premiered at the June 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, bringing attention back to Myka and James Stauffer, the parents of four who quickly became hugely popular YouTube influencers. Except, for a period of time, Myka and James were parents of five, after they adopted a child from China with special needs in 2017, whom they re-named Huxley. They of course documented every single step of the difficult adoption process and all the particular medical needs that Huxley, who was born with brain trauma that triggered behavioral difficulties, would need help with.
While many fans applauded the couple for taking in another child on top of their biological bunch, others slowly started noticing the level of nonconsensual exploitation and profit-earning Huxley’s story was generating on their multiple channels. The Stauffer’s fairytale adoption story came to a crashing halt after months of viewers noticing Huxley and his things were slowly going missing from the videos. Finally, the Stauffers shared a video on May 26, 2020, titled “An Update From Our Family,” tearfully announcing they’d be “rehoming” Huxley after two-plus years of welcoming them into their home. So what happened to the sweet four-year-old child the world came to love after the Stauffers legally undid their adoption? Here’s where Huxley Stauffer is today.
Where is Huxley Stauffer today?
In a lengthy video, Myka and James explained that Huxley’s medical needs associated with his stage 3 autism diagnosis were far greater than they had been sharing with fans, in order to protect the child. They claimed “scary things” had happened that impacted their children, which made them feel they were not the right fit for Huxley, despite the years of planning. Because of this, Huxley was released by the Stauffers to a “new forever family” that he had already begun bonding with. According to Myka in the video, Huxley’s new adopted mother has “professional medical training.” Myka herself was a practicing nurse until 2012.
After concerned viewers contacted the local Ohio state authorities back in 2020 to check in on Huxley following the shocking news, Buzzfeed obtained police records that Huxley was unharmed and showed no signs of abuse. He seemed “happy and well taken care of” according to the written report, in the care of his new mom. Police also publicly stated no illegal or inappropriate steps were taken during the readoption process.
In 2024, a private social media account owned by Huxley’s mom shows that Huxley (now renamed to a chosen name of Yue Lin) is still thriving with his new family. His mother is educated in taking care of children with special needs including Huxley’s new siblings.
