A popular YouTuber and her husband have come under fire after revealing they "re-homed" their adopted Chinese son who has developmental disabilities.
Myka Stauffer and her partner James uploaded the video titled 'An Update on our Family' to their nearly 720,000 subscribers earlier this week, explaining they learned their son Huxley had "a lot more special needs that they weren't aware of" once they brought him home.
"With international adoption, sometimes there's unknowns and things that are not transparent on files and things like that," James said.
"There's not an ounce of our body that doesn't love Huxley with all of our beings. There wasn't a minute that we didn't try our hardest," Myka added though tears.
The couple said that after "multiple assessments and evaluations," they had been told by "medical professionals" that their child's medical needs required a "different fit" in terms of living situation.
"It's been really upsetting for us because it's not what we've ever wanted to hear," James said.
The couple adopted their son in 2017, and in a blog written by Myka last year, she revealed Huxley had a brain cyst, a brain tumor and autism.
Despite the pair's assertion their son was now "happy and thriving" in his "new forever home", many online commentators rejected their reasons for giving up the child, taking to social media to express their outrage.
"Imagine writing out these captions and not meaning a single word," one Twitter user wrote alongside screenshots of Myka's Instagram posts of her son, in which she said she "couldn't imagine a day without him".
"You adopted him solely for the attention it would give you and now you’re giving him away. Unbelievable."
Many commenters took issue with the fact that Myka's documenting of the adoption process - which had allegedly been partially funded by followers - was used in sponsored content on her social media accounts and that some of her YouTube videos on the subject were monetized.
"Extremely depressed reading about the influencer who raised funds to adopt a son, made this her 'brand', discovered he has special needs, secretly rehomed him, blocked ppl asking about him (after her followers helped fund the adoption) & put out a video making herself the victim," one Tweet read.
"Oh and also she has 4 other biological children. Would she give them up if she discovered they had special needs? I'm guessing no?"
While many of the comments on Myka's YouTube page were positive, her actions were widely condemned elsewhere on the internet.
"This makes me so so so angry and sad for this little boy," one Reddit user wrote.
"I can't even imagine this being an option," said another.
"Like imagine sitting down with your husband to discuss your kid that has so many needs and even uttering the words 'maybe we should essentially return him'."
The couple's emotional video comes after pressure from followers who began asking questions about Huxley's whereabouts and wellbeing when he stopped being the regular focus of Myka's social media posts.
Dedicated Instagram accounts with names such as Justice For Huxley made noise about the situation online, with some bombarding the comments sections of companies that had partnered with Myka.
