Adam Busby gained prominence as the father of America’s first all-female quintuplets. His family has featured in TLC’s “OutDaughtered” since 2016, with millions of people watching in utter fascination as the babies grow up and reached new milestones each year. Raising this many children who were going through the same thing all at once was quite difficult, even if they had help, but Adam was steadfast in his love and commitment to them. Much had been written about him and his wife, Danielle, not all good, but he’s been quick to explain or defend their actions.

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The Busby couple’s love story

Adam met Danielle in 2003 at Target, as they both worked for the same department store in Lake Charles. He was attracted to her, but it took him months before he worked up the courage to introduce himself. They hit it off, and were soon spending their free time at work together. After asking her out on a date, he canceled on her to hang out with his friends, not a great way to start a relationship, but he made it up to her.

When they went out on their first official date, he took her to meet his family, joining them for his sister’s birthday dinner. By the end of the night, he’d asked her to be his girlfriend, and she said yes. They were engaged by Christmas Eve 2005, and were married on 22 July 2006 in their hometown. Hurricane Rita made landfall in Louisiana the previous year and caused a lot of damage in Lake Charles, but they found a little chapel for the ceremony. They didn’t really care much about where it would take place, as she said, ‘We were young and in love… We were just looking forward to the day we would officially commit in front of God to be together forever.’

Fertility issues

By 2009, Adam and Danielle felt ready to have kids, but both had problems that prevented them from conceiving the natural way. His sperm count and motility as well as testosterone levels were low, and Danielle had irregular ovulation. They took fertility medication to stimulate ovulation, and underwent intrauterine insemination – IUI – in which the sperm was placed directly into the uterus when the timing was right. It took some time and a lot of attempts before she became pregnant; Blayke Louise was born in 2011.

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Wanting to have more children, they went through the same process and faced the same challenges, but it was all worth it in the end. At first, she thought she was pregnant with twins, but as the doctors continued to monitor her condition via ultrasound, it soon became apparent that they would have five babies. It was all so surreal that they could only laugh that this was happening to them.

Once they got over the shock, the reality of what they would be facing began to sink in – it was scary, but Adam believed that God would get them through it, saying ‘I truly believe that God is working in our lives to orchestrate a pretty awesome story.’ However, their first visit to the specialist dampened their spirits. The doctor naturally talked to them about the risks involved, and worst-case scenarios, but what they found hard to accept was that he was ‘scaring’ them into reducing the number of babies from five to two. As Christians, they refused to do the ‘reduction’ procedure, as they held onto their faith that God was holding all five babies in His hands. Adam admitted to being a little bit disappointed that he’s not getting a boy, but said, ‘Coming home with my beautiful wife and 5 baby girls is all that I care about.’

About the show

“OutDaughtered” chronicled the lives of the Busby family, beginning with the births of the babies. At 28 weeks and two days of gestation, the quintuplets were born on 8 April 2015, via cesarean section, at the Woman’s Hospital in Texas. The delivery took about four minutes, with five medical teams on hand to care for the newborns. Ava Lane and Olivia Marie were twins, while Parker Kate, Riley Paige and Hazel Grace were fraternal triplets. They were quite tiny, weighing only between 2lbs and 2lbs 6oz, not much over 1kg. The preemies stayed at the Newborn Intensive Care Unit – NICU – until they had grown to where their organs were fully developed, and could regulate their body temperatures.

As thrilled as the Busby couple was when the quins were finally brought home, they were also quite overwhelmed by the time and attention that caring for these delicate babies would entail in feeding, burping, changing diapers, grooming, dressing, and soothing them. On top of that, they had to make sure that their eldest, Blayke, who was only four when the quins were born, wouldn’t feel neglected.

They were fortunate that they had people who were willing and able to help them through it all. Not much was known about Adam’s parents, but they were always present in time of need. They could also count on Danielle’s mom Michelle, and siblings Crystal and Ashley along with their husbands. The community and members of their church were generous with their time too.

For five seasons, from 2016 to 2021, viewers saw how the Busbys were able to overcome the challenges of raising the quins. No matter the hardships, it was clear that the joy these kids had brought into their lives was incomparable.

Adam Turns 40! https://t.co/WPefpW0KfY

— The Busbys (@ItsABuzzWorld) June 30, 2022

In late 2014, Adam and Danielle started a blog called “It’s A Buzz World”, on which they could update family and friends about their journey – they never imagined that they would share it with the rest of the world through the TV series. He said, ‘We have been working with them [TLC] since before the birth of these very special quins, and are so excited to have documented this incredible story of God’s grace poured out on our lives.’ Just as they couldn’t help but smile whenever they saw their ‘little miracles,’ they hoped that they would also bring some happiness to the viewers.

There were some concerns that being on the receiving end of so much attention would have a negative impact on a family. However, Adam said that they surrounded themselves with people who would help them stay grounded, and hold them accountable for their actions.

What happened to Adam Busby?

Underwent vasectomy, or not

Adam and Danielle still went on dates when they only had Blayke. However, as they became a family of eight, spending time as a couple had become complicated. One time, Adam joked that the baby in his wife’s arms was ‘definitely ruining his mojo.’ Raising his eyebrows suggestively, he said he wasn’t able to do anything with her, especially when they were in a room full of sleeping babies around them. Danielle said that nothing was going to happen unless he underwent a vasectomy. He hadn’t gone through with it because he was nervous, to which she said, ‘Please. I’ve had like six kids for you – you can’t do one thing for me?’

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They were of the same mind that getting pregnant again was something they should do well to avoid, so he went through the procedure. However, some time later, Danielle’s period was late, causing Adam to freak out a bit, confessing to her that he’d had the vasectomy, but hadn’t returned for a follow-up visit to see if it took. He said that it just slipped his mind, and never thought it would become a problem since his doctor was the best in his field.  Fortunately, she wasn’t pregnant, and sometime later she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and underwent an hysterectomy, so having more kids was no longer possible.

Suffered from postpartum depression

People usually associate postpartum depression with women, so it came as a shock to many when Adam revealed in 2017 that he experienced it too. Being a father of one to a father of six had changed his life in ways that he might have been unprepared for, and had difficulty dealing with. There was this constant worry for the babies, and pressure in providing for his family that made it hard for him to focus on anything else. Sometimes it felt like he’d given everything to them that by the end of the day, and there was nothing left. He felt different from the Adam he used to be, not just with work, but with relationships as well, and it drove a wedge between him and his wife because he sometimes wanted to check out. Adam told his dad about it, and the latter told him that part of what he had been experiencing was normal parenting, but multiplied by five. The struggle was very real, but he learned that he wasn’t the only father who was going through it, although hearing about it was rare. He said, ‘It’s a hard thing to talk about, because you’re scared that nobody is going to understand.’

He said it was gradual, but it had become worse the more he tried to hide it. Adam kept it from Danielle because he didn’t want to burden her with it, and add to the stress that he knew she had been under on a daily basis. However, his wife didn’t care about that, and even said, ‘Then let’s live miserably!’ She hated hearing that he was suffering from it from the time the quins were born, and was only made aware when they were about to turn two. She was confused about it too, as it was something she didn’t experience, so it wasn’t easy for her to understand. Danielle had days when she felt lost, and would tell Adam that she needed him to just be with her, ‘But it’s sad because I don’t remember him really getting the chance to feel broken like that.’

Adam opened up about his struggles to the public because he wanted to help raise awareness of what fathers had been dealing with, and remove the stigma that surrounded mental health. In sharing this, he was criticized by people who simply didn’t understand, and would say that he just had to put things in perspective and appreciate all the things that were great in his life. However, Adam said, ‘whenever you struggle with depression, your mind just doesn’t let you go that way.’ He turned to psychiatrists, psychologists and a pastor to help him overcome it. His advice to dads who might be suffering from postpartum depression was to talk to someone they loved and trusted, because hiding it and trying to fix it on their own, as well as thinking that it would go away on its own, would only make it worse. Adam was grateful for his wife, who had been his rock and who loved him through it all.

Judged for their parenting style

As Adam and Danielle shared their lives with the world through “OutDaughtered,” it went without saying that there would always be people who would nitpick on everything they said and did, particularly when it comes to how they raised their children. They were criticized for many things, including taking ‘too many’ vacations away from their daughters, one of the quins skipping a grade in school, not removing locks on the quins’ bedroom, and cheering on his eldest as she dived off the roof into the swimming pool. Adam often offered explanations about most issues that cropped up, to defend their decisions or actions, but at times, he would snap back at parent shamers online.

It was all a learning experience for them, as Adam said that they were doing the best they could, making decisions based on what they knew, and on their intuition as parents. ‘There’s no manual on raising quins’, he said, and further ‘There’s nobody out there who knows the intricacy of the decisions we make. It’s just crazy that somebody out there is criticizing us about something they have no idea about.’

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Defended his wife against haters

When Danielle revealed that she had some health problems, some were concerned while others believed she was faking it, to add some drama to the show, as viewers were left wondering what was really wrong with her. Over the years, she had been suffering from migraine and neck pain accompanied by arm numbness or tingling, and at one point, she felt like her heart was going to explode. She consulted with many specialists who conducted various tests, but they could only rule out possible disorders and couldn’t determine what was causing her symptoms.

Adam came to his wife’s defense whenever someone would bash her for her mystery illness. It was tough trying to explain something when they didn’t really know what was going on with her. Recently, they had come to believe that Danielle had autoimmune disease, but they hadn’t figured out everything about her health issues. So far, they were managing it with diet and medication, and they continued to monitor her by getting her bloodwork done and checking her hormone levels. She had good days and was making the most of it, which caused some people to misunderstand and think that she wasn’t really sick. During bad days, when there was too much pain and inflammation, she would refrain from blogging or filming.

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Taking a break from the show

Adam and Danielle knew what they signed up for when they agreed to star in their own reality TV show. Despite being bashed for whatever it was that they said or did, it was important for them to keep things as real as possible.

It had been over a year since the eighth season finale of “OutDaughtered” aired on 4 May 2021, but there was still no news on when the sixth season would premiere; loyal viewers had been wondering if the show had been canceled. The couple addressed this issue on their YouTube Channel, “It’s A Buzz World,” in a video they posted in July 2022. It delighted their fans to hear that the show wasn’t canceled, and that there was no animosity or anything like that between them and the network or the producers.

The Covid-19 pandemic made it really difficult for them because of the restrictions on where they could film and what they could do, saying that the content would have been boring if they only film inside the house. However, this wasn’t the only reason why they felt like taking a break would be good – with all the things that had happened in their lives, they wanted to regroup as a family, and take time to rejuvenate. Adam said, ‘We decided to take a year off of everything. Let the girls do what they want, go have some fun.’ Ever since they’d become a family of eight, the cameras were there, so going through life without it being documented for the show was ‘healthy’ for them.

However, fans were puzzled by this, as the Busbys continued to film their adventures and shared them with the public through their YouTube Channel. Danielle said that it was their family footage too. They loved capturing special moments on camera, and posting them; it was just how they rolled. There was no set date as to when they would resume filming for the show, but they were still in talks with TLC. Adam said, ‘We’re not saying no, but we’re just not saying yes right now.’

Elon Musk is an American entrepreneur, who rose to global prominence due to his successful venture as a co-founder of the spacecraft manufacturing firm SpaceX in 2002, the electric automotive company Tesla in 2003, the infrastructure and tunnel construction company The Boring Company in 2016, and the brain-computer interface machine development firm Neuralink in 2016. Aside from these successful businesses he helped build, he had the foresight to invest early on in several technological companies, which have also contributed to the increase of his net worth over the years. This 2022, amidst the pandemic, he went up from second place on the billionaire’s list, and was declared the richest man on earth.

Get to Know Elon Musk

People have described Elon Musk as a business leader, an innovator, an entrepreneur, and a huge social media influencer. However, few people were aware of what his life was about before he became popular and successful.

His childhood when his parents were still together

Elon Reeve Musk came from a wealthy and prominent family, who had South African, British, Pennsylvania Dutch, and Anglo-Canadian heritage. He was born on 28 June 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. His Canadian mother Maye Haldeman Musk was raised in South Africa, and is a former model, a Miss South Africa finalist, and a dietician. His South African father Errol Musk, is an electromechanical engineer and a property developer, who for a time was a half-owner of an emerald mine located close to Lake Tanganyika in Zambia. His father was very much interested in politics, and was elected representative of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in the Pretoria City Council. His parents were childhood neighbors and then became college sweethearts. He has two younger siblings – Kimbal born in 1972, and Tosca in 1974.

The years after his parents divorced

His parents divorced in 1980, and he chose to live with his father. At that time, he pitied his father and believed that he was going to be lonely, while his mother had his other siblings with her, however, after two years of living with him, Elon regretted his decision. It was around that time when he had his adenoids removed, because most people around him suspected that he was deaf. However, his mother told everyone that her son wasn’t deaf, but was just ‘listening in another world.’ There were times when he would go missing while the family was out shopping – initially they were worried about him, but later on, his mother became used to his habit of being in a trancelike state, reading in a secluded part of a bookstore.

Sold a video game code at 12 years old

Elon was quite different from most boys his age. At the age of 10, he became interested in computers and video games. He convinced his father to buy him a computer, as he’d already learned the intricacies of computer programming by just reading a manual. He created a video game called Blaster, which was sold for $500 to the PC and Office Technology magazine when he was 12 – Elon’s imagination and creativity were quite evident even back then. He had a photographic memory that never endeared him to other kids, because he developed a habit of correcting them. When he ran out of books to read, he began reading two different sets of encyclopedias.

Blastar (video game) by Elon Musk (428×600) https://t.co/kW3ymkzz9M pic.twitter.com/iqJvdYzrRB

— denis (@dciccale) October 19, 2015

He was bullied for three years in school

Elon attended the Waterkloof House Preparatory School, then went to Bryanston High School, where he was bullied for three years; one time, a gang of students beat him up until he blacked out. His brother said that his face looked like he had been in the boxing ring because it was quite swollen and bloodied. Due to the bullying, his parents transferred him to Pretoria High School from where he matriculated without incident since the students there were more disciplined.

Elon had an estranged relationship with his father

Elon along with his siblings and even his mother didn’t like to talk about the patriarch of the Musk family. His mother said that nobody liked his father, and they avoided bringing him into any conversation as the stories were horrendous; she said that there were kids and grandkids involved so she didn’t want to elaborate. When Elon chose to be with his father after his parents divorced, he had a clearer picture of what kind of person his father was, and didn’t like it – it was his grandmother who made everything bearable. When Elon was asked about his childhood, he said, ‘It may sound good. It was not absent of good, but it was not a happy childhood. It was like misery.’ When he was pressed about his father, he shared that Errol wasn’t a happy man, and was good at making other lives miserable. For the sake of his half-sisters, he refrained from talking more about their father. People were curious about how bad his father was, because when Elon began having kids, he and his wife agreed that no matter what happened, their children would never meet their grandfather.

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His college education

His family’s wealth gave him the luxury to travel around the globe. He realized that his geeky inclinations weren’t appreciated in his hometown, so America became his ultimate goal because he believed that it was the land of opportunity, where he knew that his dreams, however improbable at that time, could provide the perfect platform to make them a reality. When he told his father about his plans, he rejected them and even had him experience a taste of what it was to live in America – Errol made his son do all the house chores by letting go of the household help.

Elon acquired Canadian citizenship through his mother, and studied at Queen’s University in Ontario, but not before spending a year working odd jobs because the uncle with whom he was supposed to live with had already moved to the US. He had a difficult time adjusting to his new life there, and even accepted a job cleaning boilers.

Eventually, his mother and siblings followed him. While studying at university, he applied for a US visa, which took two years to acquire. He attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, from where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Physics. He further studied at Wharton School to earn his bachelor’s degree in Economics, then Elon wanted to continue studying for his Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Stanford University, but his entrepreneurial visions lured him out of the program after just a few days, and he went to Silicon Valley.

Personal Life – his women and his children

Elon’s passion for making something work was legendary, because he dedicated so much of his time creating solutions to problems, even if some of those goals he had sounded completely absurd to most businessmen.

People around him were surprised that he found the time to court women, with his busy schedule. He reportedly dated many women, but has married just two, though all in all, Elon has 10 children with three women.

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Justine Wilson with six children (early 1990s – 2008)

While trying to figure out what to do with companies such as Zip2 and Paypal, Elon courted Justine Wilson, who was studying as a writer at that time, by flying out to her place during weekends. He’d taken a liking to her when he saw her across a common room while he was studying at Queens University. When he approached her, he pretended that they met at a party, but she knew it was a lie because she never attended such a party. She initially blew him off when he asked her to go out with him for ice cream, but he was persistent. He still lived with roommates then, but after he sold Zip2, he bought his own place, which made it easier for him to devote more time to her.

They fought a lot because Justine’s ex-boyfriend continued calling her: ‘I remember thinking it was a lot of drama, and that if I was going to put up with it, we might as well be married’ said Elon, who proposed on the spot, but reenacted his proposal after a few days, with a ring in his hand.

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The couple had five children, but their eldest, Nevada Alexander, died when he was 10 weeks old. This was the time when Paypal was sold to eBay, and increased Elon’s net worth by over $100 million. The doctors called it Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – the baby was resuscitated and lived for three days on life support, until Elon and Justine decided to pull the plug; he’s never wanted to talk about his son’s death.

To move on from the loss, Justine relied on IVF to have children, and soon became pregnant with twins, Griffin and Xavier, who were born in 2004.  Two years later, the couple had more children, this time blessed with triplets Damian, Kai and Saxon. Their marriage only lasted for eight years, with their divorce granted in 2008. When Xavier reached the age of 18, he applied for a change of name and gender in court, and now goes by the name of Vivian Jenna Wilson. His father’s last name was also dropped, saying ‘I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.’

Talula Riley – no kids (2008 – 2012, 2013 – 2016)

Barely six weeks after Elon filed for divorce in 2008, he sent a text message to Justine informing her that he was engaged to British actress, Talulah Riley. For some reason, Talulah became friends with Elon’s first wife, and people around them were astounded. Apparently, during the divorce proceedings, Justine sent an email to Talulah and told her that she’d rather live out the French movie version with the first and second wives being friends instead of the American version in which someone died and there was always a catfight. Talulah agreed and said, ‘Let’s do as the French do.’ Talulah then moved to Los Angeles and married to Elon in 2010. Since Elon shared custody with his kids, sometimes they lived with them.

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The marriage didn’t last long, and they were divorced in 2012, but the couple reunited after a year, and was married for the second time. However, it didn’t take long for them to separate once more, and he filed for divorce again in 2014, which was finally granted in 2016. Elon didn’t have children with Talulah.

Grimes with two kids (2018 – 2012)

Claire Elise Boucher, popularly known by her professional name Grimes, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. She had been known as one of the most adventurous solo artists in the music industry, until she met Elon in 2018, and became his girlfriend. Artificial Intelligence was one of the couple’s common denominators. she loved talking about it, and he found the best person to discuss it with.

When it was reported that they had a baby boy, people were curious about the child, most especially when the parents named him, “X Æ A-12 Musk,” fondly pronounced by his mother as “X A.I. Archangel.” Officially, the name was changed to “X AE A-XII Musk” because the original name had characters which were not recognized under California Law as part of the modern English alphabet. To make it easier for everyone, he was simply called “X.” There had been so much interest in the baby that drones followed them everywhere, so they often changed their home base.

The whole world thought that Elon only had one child with Grimes, but in an interview with Vanity Fair, it was discovered that the couple had a secret baby born in 2021 – they were able to keep it a secret, because they had the baby through surrogacy. She was named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, and was nicknamed “Y”. During the interview, a baby was heard crying on the second floor of the house. Each time the baby cried, Grimes winced, and the interviewer knew that something was amiss, especially when the baby couldn’t be hushed. It was then that Grimes confessed to having another baby.

Most people thought that because of their children, Elon and Grimes were a couple, but he admitted that they were ‘semi-separated’ because they never lived together. They confessed that they were too different – he liked neat aesthetics, while she liked to mess with everything. In March 2022, she said, ‘I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid.’ That same month, however, she announced via Twitter that she and Elon had broken up but remained friends. They both admitted that the relationship they shared was quite unusual, but they understood each other.

Shivon Zilis with two kids (2022)

The eccentric billionaire surprised everyone again this July 2022, when it was reported that one of his executives, Shivon Zilis, had given birth to twins, and according to the public court documents, he was written as the father. The gossip mill went into overdrive, because it seemed that there was an overlap in the timeline between his relationships with Grimes and Shivon. Apparently, the date on the documents indicated that his newest twins came within weeks of Y’s birth. There was so much talk on social media, that Elon addressed it by posting on Twitter, ‘Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis. A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.’ He went on to say that the population on Mars was still zero. There was a surge of people searching on social media for the new woman in Elon’s life, and it turned out that she was the Director for Operations on one of his projects in Neuralink. It was also reported that the couple chose Austin to be their main base, living there in a $4 million residence.

Elon Musk’s net worth

When a rich man acknowledged having fathered 10 children, no one questioned his ability to provide for them, especially with the amount of net worth Elon Musk was estimated to have at this time. It was in 2013 when his growth as a billionaire was noticed – he had an estimated net worth of $2.7 billion that year, and it continued increasing until 2021, when his assets blew up to an estimated $151 billion. Tesla made such a huge splash, and he owned 25% of it, but what really set him apart in 2022 and helped him snatch the top position on the richest person list from Jeff Bezos of Amazon were his investments in SpaceX. In May 2022, it quadrupled in value, and was estimated to be worth $125 billion. With all that success, he came out on top with a net worth of $253 billion, according to Forbes.

Expect more children from Elon Musk as he loves to procreate, and with his overflowing assets, he can surely afford to provide for them financially. However, children also needed other things from their fathers. While there’s no such thing as a perfect father, his estranged relationship with Vivian hopefully was just an isolated case, and not extended to his other children. It would be unfortunate if he didn’t have a great relationship with his kids, just as he had with his own father.