The new HBO docuseries An Update on Our Family turns the camera on the family vlogging industry — and how viral YouTube fame came crashing down for Ohio-based vlogger parents Myka and James Stauffer.
As HBO explains in a press release, the Stauffers racked up a million subscribers across their YouTube channels, with viewers tuning in to watch the family adopt a two-and-a-half-year-old boy from China in 2017. The boy, whom they named Huxley, was a regular fixture in the Stauffers’ videos… until he wasn’t.
Who are Myka and James Stauffer?
As New York Magazine reported in 2020 — in the story that inspired the HBO docuseries — Myka and James Stauffer were the vloggers behind “The Stauffer Life,” a now-offline YouTube channel about their relationship and family. James was working as an engineer, and Myka was a former nurse turned full-time YouTuber. The family shared clips with titles like “MY MISCARRIAGE STORY AT 6 WEEKS PREGNANT!!!” and “LIVE PREGNANCY TEST! AM I PREGNANT?!!!”
A turning point came when the Stauffers decided to adopt a child from China to add to their family of three children, and they decided to adopt from the country’s Special Focus program, in which children have “more challenging conditions” than those in the country’s Log-in Date program, New York reports. Myka looked through photos of children available for adoption and found Huxley. She was eager to adopt the boy, despite warnings from a doctor who examined his medical file.
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“Without a doubt in our minds, we knew, no matter what state he came to us, that we would love him,” Myka said on YouTube, per New York. “If anything, my child is not returnable.”
What happened to Myka and James Stauffer’s adopted son, Huxley?
Myka and James traveled to China to pick up Huxley in October 2017, and the infant soon became a star of their YouTube videos, which showed him both in happy times and hard times. Huxley eventually got a diagnosis of level 3 autism, and the Stauffers sought medical support and put Huxley in 30 hours of in-home therapy, New York reports.
In time, Huxley appeared on YouTube less and less, and followers inquired about his whereabouts and accused the Stauffers of deleting comments asking about him. Then, in May 2020, the couple came clean, saying that Huxley was now with “his now new forever family” and “his new mommy has medical-professional training and is a very good fit.”
In the ensuing controversy, the Stauffers lost subscribers and endorsement deals, faced online petitions calling for their cancellation, and were investigated by the local sheriff’s office. During that investigation — which has since been closed — one of the Stauffers reported receiving death threats and said that Huxley’s new family also feared for their safety.
In a June 2020 Instagram apology — still the most recent post from her account — Myka apologized for “all the hurt that [she had] caused,” saying she was “trying [her] best to navigate the hardest thing [she had] ever been through.” Myka told followers in that post that she “was not selective or fully equipped or prepared” in the adoption process and that she was “naïve, foolish, and arrogant.”
Where are the Stauffers now?
Following the controversy, the Stauffers limited their online presence and took their “Stauffer Life” channel offline. James’ automotive-themed “Stauffer Garage” channel remains active, however, with 1.3 million subscribers watching videos like January 11’s “Car Detailing The Dirtiest Muddiest Jeep Ever! Complete Disaster Car Cleaning Restoration.”
As People reported, it’s not clear if Myka and James are still together, since they’ve not posted on their personal social media accounts since the controversy broke out.
Now, An Update on Our Family, a Vox Media Studio Production directed and executive-produced by Rachel Mason, is revisiting the Huxley saga in a broader examination of family vlogging and its perils.
“Are [the Stauffers] an example of people that are the worst parents, or are they doing things to feed an audience demand that has gotten out of control within an industry that’s unregulated?” Mason said in a Hollywood Reporter interview last year. “When you are amateurs, and your show is your family, and you don’t have any producers or anyone giving you any guardrails, there’s so many things that can go wrong. The story of what they did with Huxley is pretty much the tip of the iceberg of what we’re starting to learn exists within that sphere, moving forward to the present day.”
An Update on Our Family, Series Premiere, Wednesday, January 15, 9/8c
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