At the height of her family's adoption scandal, the YouTube star Micah Stover He was called upon to wear Cartier.
Mika and her husband, James Stoverare the subjects of a new documentary series titled Update on our family, Which debuted on HBO on Wednesday, January 15, after premiering at last year's Tribeca Film Festival. The Stauffers, who did not respond to producers' requests for comment, are known for their candid family blogs and brought fans along on their journey to adopt their son, Huxley, from China. But viewers turned against the family in 2020 when Micah and James They “brought back” their adopted sonwho was diagnosed with autism.
Before Huxley was given a new forever home, Micah was widely criticized for appearing to disengage from raising the “little guy” who was two years old at the time of his adoption. While the family tried to take care of his medical needs, Micah and James placed Huxley in speech therapy.
“We're going to go to a different speech therapist,” Myka said in a 2018 YouTube vlog, which appeared in Episode 3 of the docu-series. “Not the $500-a-month guy. But we'll go with the $70 option for 30 minutes.
Courtesy of Myka Stauffer/Instagram Myka and James Stauffer made a name for their family on YouTube, but everything changed dramatically after they rehomed their adopted son, Huxley. The couple adopted Huxley from China in 2017 when he was two years old. Mika and James also share children Kova, Jaka, Radley and Onyx, who were not (…)
Some viewers claimed the comments were hypocritical after noticing that Mika was wearing a Cartier bracelet when she talked about Huxley's cutting back on expenses. At the time the video was uploaded, the jewelry was worth approximately $6,500.
“But you can't afford $500 a month for a speech therapist?” one critic said in a reaction video.
Social media personality Sophie Rosswhich has been at the forefront of dissecting the adoption scandal, reflected on the descent down the “rabbit hole” of the Stover family.
“It is clear that (Micah) has been living a life of luxury while apparently stating that she does not have the resources to care for this human being that she has adopted,” Ross said in the document.
Others debated whether Myka and James adopted Huxley just to increase engagement on their YouTube channels. The duo's popularity has skyrocketed due to their vulnerable videos about the adoption process, and Myka has scored deals with brands like Fabletics, Huggies, Kroger, and more. (The majority of these brands ended their relationships with the Stauffers family amid the relocation scandal.)
Stauffers' fans began to worry about Huxley after he was noticeably absent from the family's videos. When the couple initially brought the Huxleys home in October 2017, Mika announced that she and James felt confident about the decision regardless of the challenges they might face.
“If anything, My child is non-returnable“Myka said in a YouTube video uploaded months before Huxley was officially adopted.
Micah and James are also the parents of children Kova, Jaka, Radley, and Onyx, who are not adopted. As Huxley was seemingly phased out of vlogging, Myka was called out for deleting comments about his whereabouts. She and James eventually offered their explanation in a video in May 2020.
“We would never give up on a child with special needs, this is a personal matter for Hawks and has nothing to do with him being autistic,” Mika added while responding to critics in the comments section, claiming that Huxley “wanted this decision.”
Her story. Micah Stover received backlash in May 2020 when she revealed her decision to give back her adopted son with autism, but she was transparent about the process long before the controversy. The YouTube star documented her journey on her channel, sharing details about everything from Huxley's diagnosis to her desire to adopt more children. (…)
After one month, Us Weekly Confirm that The investigation began To Huxley's care after news came out that he had been placed with another family. The case was eventually closed, with authorities determining that Huxley was safe and happy with his new adoptive parents.
The Stauffers largely disappeared from the network after the scandal, deleting their family's YouTube channel. In an Instagram post in June 2020 – her last post on the platform – Myka issued a public apology To the adoption community.
“We didn't adopt a child to get rich,” she insisted. “Although we received a small portion of the money from the videos showing Huxley and his journey, every penny and so much more went back into his care. Getting the care and services Huxley needed was very expensive and we made sure he got all the services and resources he could.” “We find it. We love Huxley and we know this was the right decision for him and his future. I pray that Huxley will have the best future in the whole world.”
