Where Are Vloggers Myka and James Stauffer Now? Revisiting Their Adoption Scandal and YouTube Channel's Disappearance

Mar. 15, 2025

Myka Stauffer leans her head on husband James Stauffer’s shoulder in an outdoor portrait.Photo:Myka Stauffer/Instagram

Myka Stauffer/Instagram

Myka Stauffer’slast Instagram postdates back to June 24, 2020.

The Columbus, Ohio-based YouTuber — once renowned for her family vlogs alongside her husband, James — has now been absent from social media for nearly five years.

Both her personal YouTube channel and the family’s channel, “The Stauffer Life,” have been deleted. Meanwhile, James continues to run"Stauffer Garage,“which focuses exclusively on car flipping, detailing and cleaning, as stated in the channel’s bio.

The couple’s withdrawal from the spotlight came aftera controversial incident in 2020when they faced criticism for theadoption dissolution of their son, Huxley— who has since been renamed — due to difficulties in meeting his special needs. Myka and James, who share four other children (daughters Kova and Jaka, and sons Radley and Onyx), have largely avoided public scrutiny since.

As the documentary sheds light on their vlogging rise and fall, brush up on the repercussions of the Stauffers' infamous scandal and see where they are today.

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Why did Myka and James Stauffer place their adopted son in a new home?

Myka Stauffer and James Stauffer with their children.Myka Stauffer/Instagram

“Once Huxley came home, there was a lot more special needs that we weren’t aware of, and that we were not told,” James said in their since-deleted YouTube video, “An Update on Our Family.” “We’ve never wanted to be in this position. And we’ve been trying to get his needs met and help him out as much as possible … we truly love him.”

Explaining that Huxley was then “thriving” with a “new mommy” in a new “forever home”, Myka added: “The last couple months have been, like, the hardest thing I could have ever imagined to going to choosing to do because ultimately, after pouring our guts and our heart into this little boy.”

What have Myka and James Stauffer said since the backlash?

A still of Myka Stauffer and James Stauffer in their YouTube video, ‘An Update on Our Family’.YouTube

Once their video was public, the Stauffers were met with a deluge of social media backlash, which largely outweighed the support they also received. Myka then responded to the controversy with a Notes app apology shared on her Instagram.

“I want to first off apologize for the uproar and take full responsibility for all the hurt that I have caused,” Myka wrote in her last Instagram post. “This decision has caused so many people heart break and I’m sorry for letting down so many women who looked up to me as a mother.”

“I’m sorry for the confusion and pain I have caused, and I am sorry for not being able to tell more of my story from the beginning,” she continued.

She added, “I could have never anticipated the incidents which occurred on a private level to ever have happened, and I was trying my best to navigate the hardest thing I have ever been through.”

Do Myka and James Stauffer appear inAn Update on Our Family?

James Stauffer and Myka Stauffer smile for a selfie.Myka Stauffer/Instagram

While the Stauffers do not appear for an on-camera interview, the documentary incorporates archival footage from their now-deleted YouTube videos.

Where are the Stauffers now?

Myka Stauffer and James Stauffer pose outside with their children for a photo.Myka Stauffer/Instagram

Since the public fallout, Myka has remained absent from social media — with both her personal YouTube channel and the family’s channel being wiped off the internet — while James maintains an online presence through his “Stauffer Garage” channel, boasting 1.3 million subscribers.

There, James uploads “satisfying” videos of himself flipping rundown cars for profit and promotes his own cleaning product line,Fox Clean. Although neither Myka nor their children appear in any of his videos across platforms, Jamesoccasionally references his family behind the camera.

According to his Instagram bio, the Stauffer family still resides in Columbus.

source: people.com