YouTuber Myka Stauffer and her husband James have come under fire after revealing they have rehomed their four-year-old autistic adopted son Huxley.
In a tearful video posted on Tuesday, the now parents-of-four spoke about the difficult decision, with James telling their followers that three years after adopting their son from China, he and his wife had discovered "there were a lot more special needs that we were not aware of."
Myka added: "Do I feel like a failure as a mom? Like 500 per cent."
The video began with Myka thanking her viewers for being "amazing" and "so incredibly kind and respectful of our son's privacy". James soon took over to defend his wife.
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"I can't say enough how hard Myka has tried throughout this entire journey, the amount of effort she has put in helping Hurxley as much as she can," he said.
© Photo: Instagram"With international adoptions sometimes there are unknowns and things that are not transparent on file. Once Huxley came home there were a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of, that we weren't told.
"So over the past few years, Huxley has been in numerous therapies to help him with all his needs and over the last year has been a more intense therapy he has been in."
The couple then revealed that they can't go into details of what actually transpired because they want to protect Huxley's privacy.
"Everything that went on to make us make this decision, anything that went on in the home that was hard for Hux. That's not fair for me to put out there publicly. So we are not going to talk about that, it's not appropriate. I didn't adopt a little boy to share these things publicly."
The couple's fans were not very sympathetic, with the majority criticising their decision.
"Guess Autism didn't fit into your brand. Guess you can at least post pics of your "normal" kids," wrote a follower, whilst another one said: "Please make a trust fund for him and use every penny that you earned when he was in your videos. You exploited your own child. As an adoptee myself, I hope you know how much pain and trauma you have caused him."
"I am so sad hearing all of this that is going on, but I am SO HAPPY that he will be able to find a family that will love him unconditionally. I'm praying sweet boy finds an amazing loving family," another fan commented.
Myka and James confirmed at the end of the video that Huxley had been placed with a new family and he was "thriving, he is very happy, he is doing really well. And his new mummy has medical professional training and it is a very good fit".
