Max’s new documentary An Update on Our Family attempts to make sense of the controversy surrounding James and Myka Stauffer, who rehomed their adopted child Huxley in 2020. One question you might be wondering is: do we hear from the Stauffers?
If you were online at all during the pandemic, chances are you heard about the incident. Throughout the 2010s, James and Myka built a YouTube empire for themselves, racking up millions of followers with their family vlogging content.
As is explored in An Update on Our Family, keeping up the viewership is always a challenge. However, the Stauffers had no issue with this, especially after they announced their decision to add to their growing family by adopting a special needs child from China.
For two years, they vlogged moments with their new son Huxley, but in 2020, he disappeared from their channels. In May that year, the couple admitted to rehoming Huxley, igniting a furious backlash that saw Myka disappear from social media for good.
Where are Myka and James Stauffer now?
Myka and James Stauffer are still living in Columbus, Ohio. Producers of the new documentary did reach out to the couple to try and get answers about their lives since the scandal, but they received no response.
Although Myka keeps a low profile and hasn’t posted online since 2020, James continues to vlog on his Stauffer Garage YouTube channel, where he posts about his car flipping, detailing, and cleaning business.
The channel currently has 1.3 million subscribers, with his latest video being shared on January 11, 2025. Alongside his vlogging channel, James registered his car detailing tools company Fox Clean in May 2020.
His site states that he is situated in Columbus, where he was previously known to be living with Myka and their four biological children, Kova, Jaka, Radley, and Onyx.
BuzzFeed reporter Stephanie McNeal, who wrote about the case as it broke, says in An Update on Our Family, “Stauffer Garage has been able to survive because it has nothing to do with the family.
“But also people blamed Myka a lot more than James, which isn’t surprising if you’ve been a woman. Of course, people are going to blame the mom more, basically saying, ‘He was the good guy and she was the bad guy,’ which there was no evidence for.”
The couple’s tearful apology video came after followers across the globe demanded to know why Huxley had not been appearing in their vlogs and previous content featuring him was set to private.
Eventually, in May 2020, they responded, explaining that they had given four-year-old Huxley to his “new forever family,” and that he “needed a different fit” due to his “medical needs.”
Both Myka’s personal YouTube channel and the family’s channel, The Stauffer Life, were deleted following a heavy backlash. Although her Instagram page is still up, her last post was an apology shared in June 2020.
“She was truly canceled,” adds McNeal. “I don’t think she can come back from this.”
At the end of An Update on Our Family, text across the screen reads, “Myka and James Stauffer have not responded to our requests for an interview or comment.”
Although they’ve remained silent for the most part, in April 2022, James did comment on the situation via his business Instagram account. One commenter simply wrote, “F**k your channel.”
James responded saying, “Just remember, every time you watch my video I get paid,” to which the poster said, “Still a greedy person I see.”
Following this brief argument, James responded to another comment saying, “You don’t just adopt a kid for a few years then abandon them when they have issues.”
“You nailed it Ryan,” he replied. “I’m really happy to have you supporting me. Means a lot. How’s the fam? Your adopted little boy is adorable and I wish you the best with your next. I have you in my prayers.”
James went on to say, “It’s more than that which will never be shared publicly. I’m glad you understand and as a father, you make decisions for the whole family and best interests of all. I don’t regret my decision one bit. I did what needed to happen and don’t give a flying f**k what people think about me.”
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When asked about Myka, James said, “She is doing amazing too.”
What happened to Huxley?
Huxley’s privacy is still being protected, but a welfare check conducted by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in 2020 confirmed that he was settled with his new family.
Due to the Stauffers’ retreat following their apology video, there are still many questions about what happened to Huxley and his well-being.
Followers of the case still feel angry about his treatment, especially as the Stauffers profited significantly from sharing their adoption process and Huxley’s journey on social media.
It’s believed Huxley’s name has been changed since joining his new adoptive family. In the Max documentary, segments from the wellbeing report are read out.
“Deputy Woods contacted his adoptive family to conduct a wellbeing check,” it states. “Huxley’s adoptive mother was singing a song to him as he was sitting on her lap smiling.”
“Huxley appeared to be very happy and well taken care of. At this time the investigation will be closed out with no further follow-up from our office.”
Did James and Myka Stauffer go to jail?
Myka and James Stauffer never faced legal consequences. Although a welfare check was also conducted after followers raised concerns about potential abuse against their children, no wrongdoing was found and the case was closed.
Dexerto caught up with Gordon Hirsch, the founder and managing attorney at Hirsch Law Group, to gain a legal professional’s standpoint on the case. As he told us, the situation between Myka and James Stauffer and their former son Huxley is “complex and emotional.”
“From a legal standpoint, what’s most important is whether their actions were child endangerment, neglect or some form of fraud,” said Hirsch. “To avoid the stigma of giving up a child for adoption, rehoming an adopted child isn’t always illegal in the US but it can be.”
For instance, if the Stauffers had lied about their intentions when adopting Huxley or if they had defrauded someone, then Hirsch said they could be charged with fraud.
“But to date, no formal charges have been brought against them, a sign perhaps that law enforcement has failed to find enough evidence to prosecute,” he continued.
“If a court determined Huxley was harmed by the adoptive parents’ negligence or actions, they could be liable from a civil perspective. If there had been any specific promises made, and not kept, or if the biological parents or even Huxley himself, through a guardian ad litem, could sue for emotional distress.
Myka Stauffer has returned to Instagram for the first time since announcing her son Huxley had been placed in a new home with a 4-page Notes app apology pic.twitter.com/HRokH6YJzU
— Stephanie McNeal (@stephemcneal) June 24, 2020
“Again, these are speculative scenarios unless there is concrete evidence of wrongdoing. These cases are often difficult to win in court, and the legal system often demands a very high burden of proof without direct evidence of harm or deceit.”
As Hirsch pointed out, it’s one of many difficult cases due to a strong public opinion, which doesn’t always line up with the court of law.
“If there is no real evidence of neglect of adoption for personal gain, what appears to be such neglect or misuse of adoption may be legally questionable,” he said.
“The law, however, is usually looking at intent, action, and outcome, and if those things do not align perfectly with a criminal or civil offense, it may not even be legal to proceed.”
If you want to learn more about the case, An Update on Our Family debuts at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. For more documentaries, read about the new Ruby Franke doc, Hulu’s upcoming Franke docu-series, and the true story behind the Candie Dominguez case.