US YouTuber’s viral Thailand adoption controversy resurfaces on TikTok, shocking viewers

Nikki Phillippi, who has 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, had hoped to adopt a child from Thailand with her husband Dan in 2018

But policies that would have prohibited them from sharing content about the child on social media for a year made them change their minds

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Nikki Phillippi and her husband Dan in a still from their 2018 video in which they explained why they had decided that they no longer wanted to adopt a child from Thailand. Photo: YouTube/@NikkiPhillippi

Published: 12:02pm, 6 Jun 2023Updated: 1:17pm, 6 Jun 2023

Footage of lifestyle and family influencer Nikki Phillippi saying she and her husband were halting their adoption plans is resurfacing on social media and leading to a renewed backlash against the couple.

Nikki Phillippi is a YouTuber with 1.2 million subscribers who typically posts vlogs documenting her life with her husband Dan and son Logan, who is now three years old.

In a 2018 YouTube video, Nikki and Dan said they were hoping to adopt a child from Thailand but were told that the agency’s policies would prohibit them from sharing content about the child on social media for a year.

Nikki Phillippi and her husband Dan as they appear in the TikTok that was shared by an account that often reuploads old footage of big influencer controversies. Photo: TikTok/@the_internet_is_foreverr

In the full video on YouTube, they also said they were unhappy about the length of the adoption process, as it would take a year to finalise, and added that they didn’t want to cause “harm or repercussions to other people, and an entire organisation for that matter” if they broke the social-media rule.

On May 31, a short segment of the video was reuploaded on TikTok by an account that often posts old footage of big influencer controversies.

“Does anybody remember this? She still has over a million subscribers on YouTube,” a caption on the TikTok, which received 5 million views, read.

In the video, Nikki said, “Here’s the situation, Thailand has its own law that’s unique to it that after you pick up your child and they are your child you are not allowed to talk about them or share any images, photos, videos, anything about them online for a year.”

US YouTuber’s viral Thailand adoption controversy resurfaces on TikTok, shocking viewers

Nikki Phillippi, who has 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, had hoped to adopt a child from Thailand with her husband Dan in 2018 But policies that would have prohibited them from sharing content about the child on social media for a year made them change their minds

Nikki Phillippi, who has 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, had hoped to adopt a child from Thailand with her husband Dan in 2018

But policies that would have prohibited them from sharing content about the child on social media for a year made them change their minds