Almost a month after revealing that her adoptive son Huxley had been placed with a new family, YouTuber Myka Stauffer broke her silence to apologize on social media, according to People magazine.
Stauffer apologized for the “fuss” and wrote that she takes “full responsibility for all the damage I have caused,” in a statement she posted to Instagram on Wednesday night.
Stauffer faced a strong backlash in May after revealing in a video to her 700,000 YouTube followers that 4-year-old Huxley, whom she and husband James Stauffer adopted from China in 2017, had been “relocated” and were living with a new family, Deseret News previously reported.
Huxley was diagnosed with autism after being adopted. Myka told her followers in May that “after multiple evaluations, after multiple evaluations, numerous medical professionals have felt that they needed a different adjustment and that their medical needs needed more,” according to People.
Since announcing that Huxley lives with a new family, Stauffer has lost sponsorships with brands like Danimals and Mattel / Barbie, as well as thousands of YouTube followers, according to Fox News.
“This decision has caused many people to break their hearts and I regret that I have disappointed so many women who admired me as a mother,” Stauffer wrote in her Instagram post on Wednesday. “I regret the confusion and pain I have caused, and I regret that I was unable to tell more of my story from the beginning.”
Stauffer spoke about the adoption process, which she said required only one day of video training, and wrote that she wished she had been “more prepared” to host Huxley.
“I wanted to help so much that I was willing to take any child who needed me home. For this I was naive, silly and arrogant, “Stauffer wrote on Instagram.
Stauffer also addressed what he called “outright rumors,” such as criticism from some fans that he was taking advantage of Huxley’s videos and his adoption process on his YouTube channel, which is being monetized. The video of the Stauffers bringing Huxley home from China (which has now been made private) was viewed more than 5.5 million times, according to USA Today.
“While we received a small portion of the money from the videos with Huxley and his journey, every penny and more came back to him,” Stauffer wrote in his Instagram post. “Getting Huxley the care and services he needed was very costly and we made sure he got all the services and resources we could find.”
Although a spokesman for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office had previously said an “investigation” was “ongoing” in the Huxley case, as Deseret News previously reported, Stauffer wrote Wednesday: “We are not under any investigation. ”
“We love Huxley and we know this was the right decision for his future,” Stauffer’s statement on Instagram concluded. “Pray that Huxley only has the best future in the world.”
