A YouTuber who makes videos on parenting has disclosed to viewers that she and her husband gave an infant son they brought home from China in 2017 to another family after realizing he had “a lot more special needs” than they realized. Myka Stauffer had documented the steps of Huxley’s adoption to her 700,000 subscribers from the early fundraising stages and onward, but the boy disappeared from her pictures and videos weeks ago, inciting speculation from followers and commenters. The couple, Myka and James Stauffer, has four other children. Huxley suffered from a brain tumor and stroke in utero and was later diagnosed with autism. The family sought treatments and therapies for his developmental disabilities, but Stauffer said she and James still found themselves ill-equipped to care for him.

“Once Huxley came home, there was a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of and that we were not told,” James Stauffer said. Myka, addressing backlash from her followers, added, “Do I feel like a failure as a mom? Like, 500%. So when you get, like, insidious, hurtful comments, it just, like, really makes it hurt worse.” The couple declined to share details, citing their son’s privacy, other than that he had gone to a “new forever family” with a mother with medical training and that he was “thriving.”