Until this week, Micah Stauffer was a mid-level YouTube and Instagram influencer and mother of five whose parenting blog and Instagram posts boasted a loyal following and several high-profile sponsors. (Opens in new tab) But in an in-depth article for BuzzFeed News (opens in new tab) by Stephanie McNeil, the Stauffers meticulously documented their son, Huxley, whom they adopted from China in 2017 and who has autism and other developmental issues. The influencer and her husband, James, surged into the mainstream on Thursday when they revealed that they had "rehomed" their son. (The Stauffers have four other children, none of whom are adopted.)

Update 6/15: In an Instagram post, Micah Stauffer, the face of the family's brand, posted a lengthy apology.

Stauffer also removed all content featuring Huxley on her social channels. This was likely in response to both backlash and a Change.org petition (opens in new tab) signed by over 150,000 people titled "Remove Micah Stauffer's YouTube videos exploiting children with special needs." The petition is closed and the person who signed it writes: "Micah has removed all photos of Huxley and set all adoption videos on her YouTube channel to private. She also lost several sponsors. A formal investigation is underway with local authorities to ensure that Huxley has been placed in safe custody."[5

Stauffer said in her post that she and her family are "not under any kind of investigation."

In an emotional video, Micah and James explain to the camera that they have placed Huxley in another home with her "forever family." Micah says: "There is nothing in our bodies that we don't love Huxley with every fiber of our being. After many evaluations, many medical professionals felt that he needed a different environment and that more was needed for his medical needs."

James added:" We never wanted to be in this position and have tried to meet his needs and help him as much as we could." Micah and James stated that Huxley was willing to be taken in by another family and is doing well with his new medically trained adoptive mother. Their video, which has now been removed, has been viewed more than a million times.

The parents argued that Huxley would be better off with a family more attuned to his needs. However, the announcement and the subsequent BuzzFeed article created a storm of controversy for the parents, especially for Micah, who is the face of the family and creates and appears in most of the family's videos.

According to The Atlantic, up to 5 percent of adoptions in the United States are eventually terminated. (Open in new tab) In many cases, the Atlantic feature explains, this occurs when families decide they cannot cope with the unforeseen challenges that adoption brings. According to the Stauffers, this is their case. James said in the video, "With international adoptions, sometimes things are unknown or not transparent on file."

Micah wrote in a 2019 article for Parade (opens in new tab) that Huxley "suffered a stroke in utero and has level 3 autism and sensory processing disorder." She continued: "It took a lot of time to adjust to his new diagnosis." It was a curve ball. In this week's video, however, the Stauffers did not elaborate on Huxley's diagnosis or the incident that led to their choice to remove Huxley from their home, citing concerns for his privacy.

Micah wrote in a YouTube comment that "multiple scary things happened to other children in the house," implying that Huxley has reactive attachment disorder (opens in new tab).

Further complicating the issue, the Stauffers positioned Huxley as an important part of their story as parenting influencers; according to BuzzFeed (opens in new tab), Micah made one sponsored video released in 2017 in which he promised to use the money earned from Youtube ads to fund Huxley's adoption. Huxley also appeared in the sponsored post:

Although it may not have been the Stauffers' intention, the addition of Huxley and the telling of their inspiring adoption story has brought tens of thousands of new followers to the family. More followers means that influencers like the Stauffers can charge more money for sponsored content. Although Huxley is no longer part of the family, now that the Stauffers are benefiting financially from content that puts Huxley front and center, some viewers are asking the Stauffers to donate or give back (open in new tab) the money they receive from Huxley-related content.

Others have gone even further, with one petition on Change.org calling for Micah's YouTube channel to be shut down completely." Nice of her family to do that! They used that kid's story for viewing/subscribing. They don't deserve to continue making money when their YouTube channel has grown to the size it is now because of him," the petitioners wrote. (Opens in new tab)

Micah has borne the brunt of criticism as the face of the channel, with nearly every post on her Instagram account (opens in new tab) filled with angry comments.

There is no doubt that the Stauffers adopted Huxley and had no intention of giving him to another family after two years' worth of content, especially given the numerous posts over the years from Micah (who is still alive today) claiming that Huxley was a blessing to the family, This is an ugly sight ("Now that I know how incredible my life with you is (open in new tab), I can't imagine a day without you.")

Micah and James state in the video that they do not intend to respond to any comments about their decision and have not responded to any media outlet seeking their views on the backlash (opens in new tab).