The Stauffer Family YouTube Scandal: What Happened To Myka, James, And Huxley In 2025

The Stauffer Family YouTube channel, once a thriving hub of family vlogging, has become a permanent cautionary tale in the influencer world, and as of today, December 10, 2025, the story is back in the global spotlight. The intense public scrutiny that began in 2020 following the controversial "rehoming" of their adopted son, Huxley, has been reignited by a major new documentary.

The family's online presence, primarily managed by matriarch Myka Stauffer, was completely derailed after their shocking announcement. Now, the new HBO docuseries, An Update on Our Family, is exploring the Stauffer scandal and the dark, unregulated side of the family vlogging industry, forcing a fresh look at the entire ordeal. This article details the full biography of the family, the core of the controversy, and their current status in late 2025.

Myka and James Stauffer: A Complete Family Profile and YouTube History

Myka and James Stauffer, an Ohio-based couple, built a substantial digital empire through consistent vlogging about their life as parents. Myka Stauffer, who began uploading content as Myka Bellisari as far back as 2012, eventually centered her content around motherhood, health, and lifestyle.

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Their main channel, The Stauffer Life, amassed hundreds of thousands of followers—approaching a million subscribers when combined with Myka's personal channel—by sharing daily vlogs of their large family.

The couple shares four biological children, whose lives were heavily featured in their content: Kova, Jaka, Radley, and Onyx.

In 2017, the Stauffers embarked on a high-profile international adoption journey, traveling to China to adopt a two-and-a-half-year-old boy they named Huxley. This entire process was documented and monetized across their platforms, drawing a massive new audience to their channel.

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Stauffer Family Biography at a Glance

• Parents: Myka Stauffer and James Stauffer
• Location: Columbus, Ohio
• Biological Children: Kova, Jaka, Radley, Onyx
• Adopted Child: Huxley (rehomed in 2020)
• Main YouTube Channel: The Stauffer Life (Deleted)
• Current Active Channel: Stauffer Garage (Run by James Stauffer)
• Controversy Date: May 2020 (Announcement of rehoming)

The Huxley Stauffer Adoption Dissolution and Public Backlash

The Stauffer family’s career came to a screeching halt in May 2020 when Myka and James uploaded a video titled “An Update on Our Family.” In the tearful video, they announced they had "rehomed" their adopted son, Huxley.

Huxley, who was adopted at age two-and-a-half, was known to have special needs, including a brain tumor, developmental delays, and a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The Stauffers had publicly documented their struggles in caring for a child with complex needs, but the decision to dissolve the adoption and place Huxley with a new family, referred to as his "forever family," triggered an immediate and massive wave of public outrage.

Critics accused the Stauffers of exploiting Huxley for views and sponsorship money—a practice known as "sharenting"—and then discarding him when his care became too difficult or unprofitable. The controversy centered on the ethics of family vlogging, particularly the monetization of a child’s private life and medical conditions.

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The sheer volume of negative attention and the loss of major brand sponsorships—many of which had previously partnered with Myka on adoption-themed content—led to the Stauffers deleting their primary YouTube channels and Myka retreating entirely from social media.

Where Are Myka, James, and Huxley Stauffer Now? The 2025 Update

In the years following the 2020 scandal, the Stauffer family has maintained a significantly lower profile, but the release of a major documentary has brought their story back to the forefront in 2025.

Myka Stauffer's Current Status

Myka Stauffer has completely disappeared from public social media. Her personal YouTube channel and the family channel, The Stauffer Life, were both deleted. She has not posted to any social media platform since 2020, effectively ending her career as a family vlogger.

James Stauffer's Current Status

While Myka stepped away, James Stauffer continues to maintain an online presence through his automotive-themed YouTube channel, Stauffer Garage. This channel focuses on cars and mechanics, completely separate from the family vlogging content that caused the controversy.

Huxley Stauffer's Current Status

The Stauffers stated that Huxley was placed with a new, permanent adoptive family who was better equipped to meet his extensive special needs. Due to privacy and child protection concerns, no current information about Huxley's new family or his specific whereabouts has been made public. The new HBO docuseries, however, has renewed interest in his well-being and the process of "adoption dissolution."

The HBO Docuseries: An Update on Our Family

The most significant and current development surrounding the Stauffer family is the release of the three-part HBO Original docuseries, An Update on Our Family. This documentary, directed by Rachel Mason, premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and became available for streaming in early 2025.

The docuseries uses the Stauffer scandal as a lens to examine the broader, often hidden, ethical issues within the family vlogging industry. It explores how the pursuit of online fame and monetization can negatively impact the children featured in the content.

While the Stauffers themselves did not participate in the documentary, the series includes interviews with people connected to the story, including avid YouTube consumers and others who followed the controversy closely. Its title is a direct and provocative reference to the Stauffers' infamous 2020 video, serving as a meta-commentary on the nature of public "updates" in the age of social media.

The documentary solidifies the Stauffer family YouTube story as a pivotal moment in the history of online content creation, where the lines between privacy, profit, and parental responsibility were irrevocably blurred. The scandal continues to drive conversations about child exploitation, special needs adoption, and the long-term consequences of a digital life.