An Update On Our Family (Myka Stauffer) series

[Jesslfar]

New thread for the upcoming series about that terrible vlogger family who intentionally adopted a child with special needs and then rehomed him.

Release date is 1/15 on HBO. Unknown level of trigger warnings.

[roselab]

I just watched this over the past 2 weeks. I hadn't heard of her before watching and I don't follow any family vlogs (and don't really follow any content creators). It was horrifying to see how they monetized their family and their decisions to grow their family. I can see how once they started down that path, it would have been nearly impossible to stop/give it up, but I feel bad for any kids who grow up with their parents putting their lives online like that before they have any say in it.
I will say that though I would have been likely to judge them harshly had I not watched the show and just read about what happened, I did feel some sympathy for them for having to make the decision to give up Huxley and then the backlash they received from doing so. It was hard for the documentary to share too many details due to protecting Huxley's privacy I guess, but it did seem like there was more going on than the public knows about, and that Huxley was well-taken care of and placed in a more appropriate setting for him.

I have a good friend who has adopted 3 kids (along with having 3 of their own) who all have medical issues and special needs (they weren't overseas adoptions though, and they adopted them as infants). Her family is amazing and awe-inspiring, but the amount of struggles she goes through to get her kids the care they need (outside of just needing a loving family) is real. I feel for anyone who goes into adopting a kid with medical and special needs who may not know the full extent of what that will entail and what that life will be like. But I also can't imagine giving up a child who you have made a part of your family. I hope that they ultimately did what was best for Huxley, but I am glad that it brought an end to her YouTube career.

Obviously their struggles could have been handled differently and even used to bring to light the difficulties of the adoption process and how unprepared they ultimately were instead of trying to act like 'everything is fine' and keep the up the charade of being a perfect family, but I don't think I would expect 'reality' from anyone producing content.

[origami]

I watched it and came away with even less sympathy for her. It was so clear that the adoption itself was for the views which is disgusting. I don’t doubt that there are times that an adoption goes off the rails but their motivations seemed bad from jump. I hope in his new situation he is both being cherished and being given access to his culture.

I was glad they had an international adoptee as narrator since it’s a complex issue that rarely centers the adoptee.

I can’t believe there won’t be a major reckoning of the family vlog once these kids become adults.

[Jesslfar]

Such a slow burn. I sure wish they had been able to pull up those posts she made before the adoption people had seen where she asked which special needs were easier. The documentary IMO could have dug deeper.

[Jesslfar]

Feb 1, 2025 17:04:38 GMT -6 origami said:

I watched it and came away with even less sympathy for her. It was so clear that the adoption itself was for the views which is disgusting. I don’t doubt that there are times that an adoption goes off the rails but their motivations seemed bad from jump. I hope in his new situation he is both being cherished and being given access to his culture.

I was glad they had an international adoptee as narrator since it’s a complex issue that rarely centers the adoptee.

I can’t believe there won’t be a major reckoning of the family vlog once these kids become adults.

Absolutely. The one (Ruby Franke) who locked her kids up has an adult child who has a book. I haven’t read the book yet, but it covers what it is like as a vlogger kid. I’m waiting on the inevitable lawsuits. Same with the kids on the reality tv shows. They go unpaid and then their parents post images, TikTok’s etc when they aren’t filming. Even the nice family with the boys in this show didn’t seem to understand how wrong it is to be filming yourself putting away groceries and doing basic stuff. Having a camera in your face all day can’t be good for these kids.