The Vloggers Who Returned Their Adopted Baby

everything i say in this video is alleged and my opinion and should not be taken as fact and honestly if you believe a single word that comes out of my mouth sounds like a you problem really i do apologize about this video taking so long to upload halfway through editing my cat decided to die and i've been extremely miserable ever since enjoy the video honestly i know these metal straws are meant to save the environment protect the turtle noses and all that but honestly truly they are a bit of a nightmare to clean aren't they i think we should abolish them all right that's welcome back to my channel if you are new here my name is tom harlock and i do not have an intro but i am gathered here today to celebrate the life and mourn the loss of my last brain cell we've had a good ride but it's time we've parted ways i don't know what you may be thinking god what on earth was the final straw was it that video of the lady in the dog park maybe it was the plethora of abhorrent videos documenting the power trip of thousands of america's biggest gang the police force maybe it was jake paul for having the audacity to capitalize on the riots by living out his renegade fantasy for pleasure drama and financial gain well yeah actually it was all of the above the whole world's gone to [ __ ] and everything's an absolute nightmare this week has seen the return of the classic ignorant response to the black lives matter movement all lives matter thing that blows my mind is how can you say that with your whole entire chest when people like the paul brothers exist as well as the physical world crumbling underneath our feet life on the internet isn't much better as i woke up to an abundance of messages asking me to check out a situation involving vlogging couple micah and james stalford with a collective following of two million subscribers the family of five six seven it's really honestly hard to keep up at this point fell into a vat of controversy this week when they uploaded the youtube video titled an update on our family and with a thumbnail like this i can see why not only do we have tears we've got loungewear and we've got split ends the holy triad of apology videos and if i'm honest i'm having laura lee trauma resurface so this is by far the hardest video james and i have ever publicly had to make i don't know what you're thinking what on earth did this family do to get into so much controversy how have they caused such a stir well they gave back their adopted son it's right there in the title please pay attention for today's video i'm going to take a look at the youtube journey of the stalford so far and ultimately have a little peek at the aforementioned apology video apology video is that what we're going with yeah she needs to brush her hair it's an apology video and speaking of hair you seen mine recently looking pretty stunning isn't it if only there was a haircare brand for me to recommend to you guys oh wait today's video was sponsored by 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first function of beauty order to take advantage of this offer all you need to do is click the link at the top of my description box and 20 off will be applied to your first function of beauty order thanks so much functional beauty for sponsoring this video and making me feel and look extremely handsome i really appreciate it michael and james stauffer are a couple in their early 30s living in ohio they met on okcupid fell in love had a couple of kids and in 2014 decided to make the bold decision to start a youtube channel well there was five channels seems pretty desperate if you ask me we have micah's self-titled channel with over 700 000 subscribers hi guys and welcome to my channel my name is micah stauffer she post typical mummy shite oh this is how we met wow this is how you clean a house whoop-de-doo basil let's open my bag there's a coupon aren't i so matronly there's also james's channel called stalford garage with nearly a million subscribers but not quite because only certain people deserve that one of those being me on the stafford garage channel james tinkers around with cars and sits in his garage probably texting other women the third channel style for life has over 300 000 subscribers and is essentially just another avenue for them to exploit their children there was also a fourth and a fifth channel centered around toys and food absolutely riveting if you ask me and not in any way a grab for attention speaking of attention my back is absolutely throbbing i'm trying to decide whether or not it's completely unheard of to stop filming as i am right now and move my whole entire setup to my bedroom floor so i can sit down and roll around pain free yeah i'm going to make the bold decision to do so [Music] [Applause] [Music] fluids acquired equipment moved scoliosis avoided and ready to chat [ __ ] as this video revolves around a child i'm not going to be using their real names and i'm going to be avoiding using their faces in video clips too the adopted kid was nicknamed bear so i'm going to be referring to him as that throughout this video but to give you an idea of the type of names that micah likes take a look at this favorite name is geronimo it is a native american name hey gerard hey hey honestly love you're asking for your kids to be bullied with names like these another name that i love is mazarin i think it is really really cool and edgy mica darling if by a stroker luck you're watching this video i strongly recommend you go and get yourself checked out for the bigger c apparently one of the first symptoms is a complete lack of taste and yours is showing along with a child from a previous relationship micah a registered nurse and james a man with no hair and even less charisma started a life together in 2014 with their youtube channel following pretty promptly as previously mentioned early videos ranged from how to clean your house to how to make your toddler's lunch more interesting typical yummy mummy tap that i have absolutely no interest in however i did watch one or two videos and i do have to say these are the most insufferably positive people i've ever met in my life today we are going to make mom life cooler than it has ever been we're going to be bringing to you some fun and different lunch ideas they give me the same energy as a couple who've just escaped the cult but they've still got that mentality these types of videos pulled in a few thousand views nothing crazy nothing to write home about but enough to give james and michael a taste of the good life baby fast forward two years and tons of pregnancy updates and maternity hauls later the family had increased by july 2016 the family had two little girls and a baby boy all with horrifically caucasian names all looking like children of the corn their instagram is filled to the brim with typical nauseating photosets the type people only produce to make other people jealous but it seems like the attention micah and james are receiving didn't quite match up to the level of attention that they wanted i cannot stress enough just how dull this family is it's actually kind of impressive how bland they are their only personality trait is having lots of children so in a video titled huge announcement baby number four was posted on youtube absolutely nobody was surprised there has been something that we have been hiding for about time for about a month it was during this video uploaded on the 6th of july 2016 that the family revealed for their fourth child they're gonna be mixing things up by adopting jim and i have decided that we are we're gonna die from china preferably from china however they would take one from ethiopia or uganda if push came to shove essentially as long as they're not white it's all right originally we were talking about uganda and ethiopia our hearts were really strong there that could be a great place for us to adopt after we adopted after we adopt from china because we were looking at potentially adapting twice this may be offensive somehow in some way to somebody but why is his family so intent on international adoption do you think your angelina jolie is the white savior complex kicking in full force there are currently over 100 000 children in the us that need adopting are they not interested enough for your youtube channel are they not quite the rare accessory you need honestly it feels kinda gross and for the record you could never be ever in seoul fetishizing aside the couple say they're waiting until january 2017 to start the process as to adopt from china you've got to be at least 30 years old and at the time michael was still clinging on to her 20s the process of getting matched to a child and then actually having that kid in your arms in your own home takes a little while but don't worry lads michael and james have the perfect way to kill some time by making a whole entire 27 part adoption series in between announcing the china adoption as the couple constantly refer to it as and actually receiving their chinese kiddo in their arms there was nearly 20 videos uploaded on the selfish channels documenting every aspect of the pre-adoption journey from paperwork to meetings with doctors and everything else in between because of the views the adoption process was bringing in michael's channel went from around 4 000 subscribers to well over 700 and she gained a ton of sponsorships along the way all to do with being a yummy mummy oh baby formula oh nappies creams for our souls that kind of stuff if you aren't too familiar with youtube back in 2017 whilst this was all going on the advertising revenue rate for family vlogging channels was honestly through the roof the family for sure made a significant amount of money from the videos centered around their adoption process at least enough to move from a lovely little family home into an absolute mega mansion worth nearly a million dollars i would love to show you more videos from this era but as of last week about 90 percent of the videos that staffers have ever uploaded to do with their children and their family life have been deleted and wiped from the internet now why on earth could that be at the start of the adoption process in january of 2017 nine months prior to bringing two-year-old bear home the sulphur shared a video on youtube discussing a meeting they had with the doctor regarding bear's health in this video michael and james explain how u.s doctors informed them their soon-to-be adopted son is actually going to be special needs and they're going to be categorized as severe as indicated by a brain scan this is going to be severe this is going to be a lot according to ct scans imaging of the brain revealed abnormalities which manifested as severe autism but apparently important information such as this when in one ear and out the other because bear's micah's baby she's never going to give him up and never return him sure love and i named the video this for absolutely no reason just a barrel of laughs in it my child is not returnable i so when i heard all of the things that that doctor was telling us it kind of went in one ear and out the other i'm a firm believer that you can't fault an optimist children develop things change and just because a child has extra needs does not mean they're any less deserving of loving care than a child without however the staffers were told multiple times by multiple professionals that bear is gonna be hard work this new diagnosis didn't scare us if anything it kind of solidified that this is more our son than he has ever been and we don't care what's wrong with him ooh super mummy alert she can do it all well apart from dress honestly micah love you look like a walking advertisement for christian mums against serving looks it was known that bear was very unlikely to ever be able to communicate verbally and due to his neurological conditions it was also unlikely he was ever going to live life unaided despite knowing this the stalforth savior complex kicked in full force and after reviewing thousands of photos of kids that needed to be adopted in a big brochure like the worst argos catalogue known to man they had the heart set on bear in a 2019 article for parade magazine micah described the moment that she first met bear and how she saw his little face and she can possibly ever walk away from him in another since deleted video the south has explained that because mike is a registered nurse she feels pretty confident and comfortable with all types of disabilities if our little boy at one point in his life he needed to be in a wheelchair and he needed full-on care would you still love him and we without a doubt in our minds we knew no matter what state he came to us that we would love him despite specialists almost discouraging the family from adopting a child with such demanding needs micah was insistent bear was hers she had fallen in love and her child was non-returnable right now you may be thinking with all the children out there that are ready and available to be adopted why on earth did michael and james have their hearts set on bear and specifically a child with special needs there are other options you can foster to adopt but that's a bit of a long process or you can wait for a healthy kid but again you have to wait a little bit longer i'm not one to be accusatory and you can tell because i'm opening my heart space with you and i'm not saying that michael and james specifically went looking for a special needs child because they know the process would be quicker prioritizing their channel financial gain in their caucasian savior complex above the needs and wants of abandoned child it looks like i just did adopting from china costs money around 25 000 us dollars is a good estimate however micro and james decided not to pay out of their own pocket but to instead ask their followers to donate towards the costs associated with releasing bear from china and into his forever family well for a bit family anyway nine months after starting the process in october of 2017 micah james and their three children flew out to china to collect two-year-old bear and bring him home this was announced in a now deleted youtube video obviously dedicated to all of the orphans around the world yeah i'll tell them cheers annie thanks for letting me know bye-bye hope you get a family soon oh michael i've just got off the phone to the orphans and they say thanks but you can keep it the chinese kiddo reveal also known within the adoption circuit as a gotcha day received well over five million views and shot myker and james into the family vlogger hall of fame right next to the ace family the inghams and that man who filmed his children bathing in that after bear and his family returned to america micah continued to milk that cow dry give me a kiss no okay within the first year of having bear micah's social presence and her followers dramatically increased it seemed like they had the perfect life and the perfect family yeah for sure bear was a bit of a struggle in the sense that he needed specific attention in an interview with esteemed onlinepublicationmums.com micah talked about how bear couldn't understand or comprehend language however it was specific attention that micah and james felt they were qualified to give and they were more than happy to provide in one interview micah said he's a great kid and his condition doesn't require that much overall care all you need is a big heart and lots of patience or something like that it's not a direct quote because i actually haven't got anything written down on here and i'm just trying to memorize it but you get the gist but as it turns out online publications catering towards middle-aged women who think that god's gift for loving their child wasn't the only place michael is writing down her thoughts and feelings when you adopt there are some things you should and shouldn't do you should cocoon the child a term meaning to keep the kid and their new family isolated in the family home without anybody else for a period of time this is to acclimate the child reassure them let them get used to their new surroundings the staufers didn't do this almost immediately they had friends and family come to visit bear showing off their new prized possession their chinese trophy their exotic souvenir i hate this family also recommended with adoption is to seek help when you need it and the staffers did just this but of course with micah being yummy mummy supreme she turned to facebook groups in one query posted to china adoption questions in 2018 micah asks does anyone have any recommendations or experience with a son who won't stop eating i hate it can't stand it the bloody bastard he keeps looking at my husband whilst he's eating food and even if he's got food in front of him it drives me absolutely bonkers and it makes my husband want to walk out and leave us again there's nothing on this you pick up what i'm putting down don't you there's trouble in paradise by the looks of things children who spend time in the adoption system often have attachment disorders and this can manifest in a ton of different ways for some children food insecurity can be a huge issue growing up without a constant stream of square meals results in a child being unsure as to when their necks gonna be fed and this can result in a possessiveness surrounding food it's safe to assume that on the comment mica left on the facebook group bear was suffering pretty bad but one thing you guys don't see a lot of on our vlogs is as soon as we come downstairs if food isn't immediately ready we have meltdowns every single time i'm not actually an expert in behavioral therapy and adoption but surely a good way of reassuring bear would just be allowing him to eat whatever he wants carry around some snacks and not punishing him for wanting more food another suggestion regarding adoption is to not provide any big change within the household at least for a while at least until any issue surrounding abandonment the child has has been addressed and died out but yet again micro and james convinced themselves they knew best all right today i'm gonna tell my husband that we are expecting a baby they announced they're having their fourth biological child with another baby and another shameful and embarrassing name the family was complete five little ones proudly declaring herself as a mother of five in all of her social media bios that aged well didn't it love and constantly posting videos and updates showing just how perfect her life in existence was meant that micah and james's channel continued to grow moving into 2020 the staffers continued to upload youtube videos they took a once-in-a-lifetime trip to bali and they even found time to make a brand new youtube channel this time dedicated to making quick and easy cash throughout their time on youtube the staffers flew pretty gently underneath the radar that was until the beginning months of this year when viewers started to notice something wasn't quite right where on earth was bear on the 16th of february mike uploaded a photo to instagram of herself and bear accompanied with a caption discussing his autism their struggles and how god is helping them find a way and [ __ ] but since that post in february bear was nowhere to be seen not in vlogs not on instagram or anywhere else on the internet viewers would leave comments asking where he was asking for his whereabouts and his well-being and they would be quickly deleted something was up and last week that something came to light it's time for my favorite part a dramatic apology video let's give this a whirl so this is by far the hardest video james and i have ever publicly had to make oh god what are you wearing you only wear bright white when you want people to think you're better than you actually i have some viewers who have been just like so incredibly kind and respectful of our son's privacy i just want to say thank you you're not welcome and some of the special messages that you've sent it comes to tears [Music] [Laughter] honestly how's this woman raise a single child with an attitude like this there was a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of and that we were not told it's really hard hearing from the medical professionals a lot of their feedback and things that have been upsetting oh yeah i bet it's been really hard for you the person who has to hear about the special needs not the person who has to suffer through them really upsetting for us because this is not what we've ever wanted we've never wanted this position and we've been trying to get him get his needs met and help him out as much as possible he gave away there wasn't a minute that i didn't try our hardest there's not a minute that you didn't try your hardest other than the minute that you gave him away and then went to bali without him what you want about love after multiple assessments after multiple evaluations they're not crying because they're giving him away they're crying right now because they know that their audience are gonna turn on him numerous medical professionals have felt that he needed a different fit and his medical needs i'm sorry but what authorities are telling you that your child needs to be with a new family you're chatting absolute [ __ ] we haven't made this video yet it's because we've been trying to protect his privacy his rights how can you protect his privacy when you've done nothing but milk his whole entire existence online and that's why like on instagram and stuff i try to like let you know as little as i could but i couldn't tell you anymore because i didn't want to mess anything up with what's going on legally this is not about you this is actually about your son well your ex-son because you gave him away like i know deep down inside that i don't have to say anything like i'm not i don't have to say this but you kind of have to you can't just ditch one of your children pretend it never happened when your whole entire online existence is centered around your children 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 insidious hurtful comments shut up shut up i didn't adopt that oscar go for that golden globe these things publicly 95 of the struggles we have never publicly aired ever ever with pure intent of respecting his privacy how are you gonna sit there right now and talk about protecting his privacy when you've done nothing but exploit him for the last two years the reason we haven't updated you sooner is because the medical professionals the agencies multiple people have been allowing for to spend time with some different people to see and to make the perfect match and fit for his now new forever family the new forever family as opposed to his old forever family you know the one that you went to provided but then you couldn't be asked anymore because you didn't get the clicks and views is that the one you're talking about love his new mommy has medical professional training and it is a very good fit and i ask everyone that you know watches this video that supports our family you know give us praise give us the support and the privacy that we need during this time for ourselves and for please just respect his privacy this is the worst couple i've ever seen in my life i cannot [ __ ] stand them just because i may be positive on my stories or be having fun doing something fun doesn't mean that i'm not like still horribly hurting and the same for gems suck my fat dick please respect our privacy i respect this too is that the end of the video that in the video you're not even going to give me an outro where's the end screen i can't stand you i hope you both rot anyway moving on well well well if it isn't the consequences of their own actions micro and james have been rapidly losing subscribers since they posted the apology video so i wasn't too shocked to find out that they deleted it but not before they left a comment insinuating bear did something crazy towards the family and that's why he's no longer there what they like eh well after deleting the apology video mike had decided it'd be a grand idea to put full page notes app apology up on instagram i'm not reading it can't be asked but i will put it on the screen if you would like to peruse back to me from the past where when i had a cat that was alive i'm so [ __ ] miserable earlier in today's video i talked about cocooning and other measures to take when you're adopting especially when that child has pretty special needs and just how little james and micah follow the guidance but with the return reveal being posted online the internet did what the internet does best they went digging for receipts and boy did they find them there's a lot to be said for family vloggers and the way they exploit and monetize the lives of the children they're supposed to be protected but honestly and truly micro and james stalford take the absolute piss internet sloughs uncovered a plethora of instances in which james and micah publicly humiliate bear are you done fitting are you done he's probably having them are you done from announcing that they're moving bears therapists to the cheapest one possible all whilst wearing a cartier bracelet worth thousands we're gonna go to a different speech therapist but we're gonna go to the one that um it's like 70 for 30 minutes to admitting that they take him to bed early so they could have quality family time with their biological children without him james and micah demonstrated some pretty awful techniques so for him next time is like 7 30 a little bit earlier and then we let the other kids stay up a couple extra hours just to hang out in our bedroom watch a movie and just kind of get that mom and dad time children suck their thumb for comfort and yeah sure it can make their mouth look like an absolute car crash make them appear as if they're doing piranha cosplay but when videos surfaced of bear's whole entire hands being covered in duct tape to stop him from doing so the internet justifiably started raging organizing the shoot closet for me eh hmm the apology video talk turned to the whereabouts of bear concerned viewers contacted the authorities which prompted a statement to be released from the staffers lawyers the statement revealed that michael and james did not put bear back into the foster care system they did however find a perfect family for him in a private adoption setting oh in the immortal words of my taxi man when i ask him why the drive's taking so long looks like traffic king it seems to me that micah and james adopted this lovely little chinese lad less to make their family complete and more to make their instagram photos look interesting it's kind of obvious that the staffers wanted a minorly disabled child to make them look like god's gift to children but ultimately the care that bear needed was not as important as the perfect glossy image that the family wanted to present personally i think they rinsed bear for all the clicks and revenue that he could generate and then when the going got tough bear got going i am glad that he's no longer in that household it's just a massive shame that he had to be dragged from his country of birth and then adjust to her family's way of life for two years only to have that ultimately pulled from underneath him because his value as a commodity outweighed the amount of effort the staff was willing to invest in him the cherry on top is apparently micah and james a copyright claim in any youtube video that discusses the topic so if you're watching this it's a quarantine miracle and again micro and james if you are watching this try and copyright claim me see what happens eat my [ __ ] i think that's all the time i've got for today's video but i am very interested to hear your thoughts and feelings on the situation do you think micah and james adopted for attention for financial gain to add an iota of drama into their otherwise insufferably plain existence do you think i've been too harsh let me know what you think down below in the comments and remember all opinions are valid except wrong ones so please think twice before you run your mouse if you enjoyed this video and you didn't press the like button that's absolutely fine but i don't have any respect for you if you want to catch up with me in between uploads and make sure you follow me on instagram at tom underscore harlow and for more videos from me and your subscription box and homepage make sure you subscribe baby thanks so much for watching i really do appreciate it and thank you again for a million subscribers have i even said thank you in this video thank you for a million subscribers it means an awful lot cheers for watching i hope you have a great day i'll see you soon love you bye [Music]

Channel: Tom Harlock

Views: 2,219,007

Rating: 4.9407454 out of 5

Keywords: tom harlock, The Vloggers Who Returned Their Adopted Baby, myka, myka stauffer, stauffer life, stauffer garage, entertainment, comedy, tom, james, james stauffer, adoption, vlog, an update on our family, apology video

Id: uBD9ZT4ioNA

Length: 28min 28sec (1708 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 30 2020