Myka and James Stauffer have been widely criticised for their decision to 'rehome' their adopted son. Photo / YouTube
Myka and James Stauffer have been widely criticised for their decision to 'rehome' their adopted son. Photo / YouTube
The mummy blogger who "rehomed" her adopted son has been dumped by multiple brand deals after receiving huge backlash for the decision.
Myka Stauffer was slammed heavily on Friday after revealing she and husband James had given up their son Huxley, 4.
The pair said the decision came after discoveringhe had "medical needs" they weren't aware of when they bought him home from China in 2017,
Stauffer later defended the controversial move to her critics, claiming her former son – who has autism and is non-verbal – "wanted" a new home and hinting at problems between him and their four other children.
Now as a result of the widespread backlash, Stauffer's deals with multiple major brands have been "terminated".
Stauffer, who also boasts 162,000 followers on Instagram and 700,000 YouTube subscribers, had garnered partnerships with big-name companies like Big Lots, TJ Maxx and Danimals yoghurt.
But People is reporting some have dumped the mummy blogger over the situation.
Myka and James Stauffer have been widely criticised for their decision to 'rehome' their adopted son. Photo / YouTube
Among the businesses who have stepped away from Stauffer are Mattel/Barbie, US restaurant brand Chilli's and fitness apparel company Fabletics, which is owned by Hollywood actress Kate Hudson.
Stauffer hit a second wave of criticism when a screenshot of her response to a critic in the comments section of her video titled "An update on our family" began being widely circulated online.
"We would never just give up a child with special needs, this is a personal matter to Hux. It had nothing to do with he just had Autism," Stauffer wrote, defending the backlash.
"Multiple scary things happened inside the home towards our other children, and if these events happened with one of my biological kids, after all the help and after the behaviours we witnessed sadly we would have no other choice then to seek help and get their needs met."
She goes on to say Huxley "wanted this decision 100%" explaining she "saw" it when he was with his new "family" as the child was not able to communicate with speech.
"He constantly chose them and signed and showed tons of emotion to show us and let us know he wanted this," she said.
The embattled influencer has defended her decision, saying the four-year-old 'wanted' to be with a new family. Photo / Twitter
However, not many liked the response, with many blasting her once again – branding the defence "disgusting".
"Oh yes. Non verbal Huxley told you I don't want to live with you guys no more send me to these strangers so that I can be traumatised even more in my little life," one wrote.
"Its so disgusting. Why adopt a child you knew was going to have problems just to toss them away?" another said.
While one said: "Obviously having a child with disabilities is incredibly challenging and can certainly present difficulties with other children but to say that this kid is some kind of sinister, dangerous figure is so irresponsible."
Fans of the US-based mummy blogger are heartbroken she has 'rehomed' Huxley, aged four. Photo / Instagram
After the video that sparked the outrage, some of Stauffer's 700,000 followers accused her of using Huxley solely to gain a bigger following and earn more money on her YouTube channel.
Some declared the decision "awful" for both Huxley and the pair's four other children: Kova, Jaka, Radley and Onyx.
"@MykaStauffer adopted an autistic child from China and after years of having him, she gave him up for adoption because he had 'bad behaviour' after using him for $$$ on her YouTube channel," wrote one user.
"What Myka Stauffer and her husband did is awful. You don't just give a child back … " one tweeted.
"She adopted a child for views and then got rid of him and treated him like a brand deal," another said.
There are even calls to have the family's sponsors pulled, with angry internet justice seekers calling to #cancelstauffers.
Loving that Myka Stauffer adoption story is getting the attention it deserves. She ignored expert recommendation right from the start to not adopt him given his age & the age of her other kids but she ignored it. Now she returns him & blames the adoption agency. #cancelstauffers
— unemployed millennial (@MillennialJobSe) May 28, 2020
In September 2019 Stauffer told Parade they were told by the adoption agency that Huxley had a brain tumour and "brain damage".
It was only when he arrived in the United States, they learned Huxley had suffered a stroke in utero, had autism and a sensory processing disorder.
In the new video about deciding to "rehome" Huxley, Stauffer said the child had autism and brain damage.
"Numerous medical professionals have felt that he needed a different fit. He needed more," Stauffer says while fighting back tears in the video filmed in the couple's bed.
She added that an adoption agency had helped place Huxley with his "forever family".
