A parenting YouTuber faced backlash for 'rehoming' her adopted son with autism after monetizing his videos. This is how the story unfolded.

The YouTuber began her career in online content creation by sharing videos about parenting, her pregnancies, and home organization and maintenance.

In some of her earliest content, Stauffer discussed her infant daughter's developmental milestones, told her story of experiencing a miscarriage at six weeks, and shared healthy breakfast recipes.

As time went on, she frequently supplemented her channel's videos with vlogs of her day-to-day life with her family in a joint vlog channel with her husband, James.

In the video, titled "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! || BABY #4," the couple announced their plans to adopt a boy from China.

"We haven't officially formally started the process yet, and we do plan on taking y'all with us through the journey and all of the steps along the way," Myka Stauffer said, later adding, "this is something I've always wanted to do."

The couple suggested that they were even planning to adopt another child from Uganda or Ethiopia, after looking at "every possibility."

The video was the first of many "adoption journey" updates uploaded to her channel over the course of a year. In subsequent videos, Stauffer highlighted a fundraiser she'd started to support the boy's medical needs stemming from a "neurological diagnosis," addressed setbacks they faced in the process as laws surrounding international adoption changed, and answered frequently asked questions about several different types of adoptions.

While the videos addressing the initial adoption process do not appear to be monetized, other content on Stauffer's channel at the time did generate ad revenue that was put towards the costs of adoption. In a sponsored video about tips for saving money and financial planning, Stauffer specified that profits from the monetized content would be put towards bringing her son home from China.

The video, titled Huxley's EMOTIONAL Adoption VIDEO!! GOTCHA DAY China Adoption, features the family's trip to China to pick up the toddler, footage of Huxley meeting his new siblings in China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, and clips of the emotional parents holding their son.

Stauffer dedicated the video, which is her now most-viewed content on YouTube, to "all the orphans around the world."

Two weeks later, she uploaded another video titled "My CHINA ADOPTION Experience: The Truth" in which she recapped the "surreal" experience of meeting her son for the first time.

The day, Stauffer explained, did not go exactly as planned.

"It did not look like anything that I prepared for, which is totally okay," she said, adding that the whole day was "so crazy."

The YouTuber also noted that Huxley seemed overwhelmed by the chaos and he "kicked and flailed" when she attempted to hold him.

"He wanted nothing to do with us," she recalled.

After bringing Huxley home, the YouTuber featured her son prominently in her content.

In follow-up videos, Stauffer voiced her desire to be "open and real" with her subscribers about the ups and downs of her Huxley's adjustment to a new life. In her updates, she discussed her son's energy, hobbies, developmental milestones, and emerging "giggly" personality. She often noted that her subscribers tuned in solely for Huxley updates and frequently encouraged subscribers who were "there for the Huxley content" to like her videos.

Since adopting Huxley, BuzzFeed News reported, Stauffer's online following grew significantly. According to the social media analytics tool Social Blade, Stauffer's YouTube subscribers doubled from October 2017 to October 2018.

Much of her online content after the adoption appears to be monetized; she uploaded a video titled "5 Things I Didn't EXPECT About Our China ADOPTION! International ADOPTION" and posted an Instagram photo in which she discussed the challenges of the transition — both sponsored by Dreft.

On May 26, the Stauffers posted a video titled "an update on our family" in which they revealed, tearfully, that they had placed Huxley in a new home that was better suited to accommodate his medical needs. After several years of "numerous therapies" and one year of "intense" intervention, they said, doctors delivered some painful feedback.

"After multiple assessments, after multiple evaluations, numerous medical professionals have felt that he needed a different fit and that his medical needs — he needed more," Myka Stauffer said, later adding that she feels like she "failed as a mom."

The couple went on to explain that they had remained silent about their changing situation and been vague with their fans because they wanted to protect Huxley's privacy and ensure the success of his placement in a new home.

Huxley, Myka Stauffer added, had ultimately been placed in a home that she believed to be "the perfect match."

"He is thriving, he is very happy, he is doing really well, and his new mommy has medical professional training and it is a very good fit," she said.

To conclude the video, the couple asked for "grace" and privacy as they grieved.

The couple's social accounts have since gone through some changes — the content from their family vlog channel has been erased and Myka Stauffer's Twitter bio has been revised to read, "Subscribe and follow my life with 4 kids" — as opposed to the previous bio which stated that she was a mother of five.

"I respect you so much for having the courage to make such a heartbreaking and hard decision. You are such great parents, you have to do what's right for him first and foremost," one YouTube comment — which Stauffer pinned at the top of the comments section — reads.

On other social media platforms, however, the couple has been accused of abandonment, exploitation, and poor parenting.

"Imagine writing out these captions and not meaning a single word," one Twitter user wrote, uploading screenshots of posts on Stauffer's Instagram in which the YouTuber wrote that she "couldn't imagine a day" without her son.

"Myka Stauffer should be ashamed of herself for giving up so easily. I hope that kid will go to a family that will actually love him and not heartlessly exploit him," another said.

Some critics have pointed to old vlog footage of Huxley to accuse the couple of problematic parenting.

One clip, posted to Twitter by freelance writer Sophie Ross, shows Stauffer discussing her decision to move Huxley to a less costly speech therapy — one that would cost $70 rather than $500 for 30 minutes. In her tweet, Ross accused Stauffer of wearing a "~$6500 Cartier bracelet on her wrist" while discussing the "downgrade."

"Heres a pic of 2 year old Huxley with his hands duct taped by his 'parents' myka and jim stauffer @mykastauffer as punishment for sucking his thumb as a coping mechanism...when their older children also sucked their thumbs and were never punished," one Twitter user wrote, posting a screenshot from one of Stauffer's vlogs.