The Truth About Hazel Busby From OutDaughtered

The Busby family from TLC's OutDaughtered has a lot going on. Adam and Danielle Busby are parents to six daughters (hence the name of their show), five of which are quintuplets. In fact, they gave birth to the first all-female set of quintuplets in the United States, so they're kind of a big deal. Even more of a big deal is a certain young quint who has completely stolen the hearts of viewers and fans all over the world: Hazel Grace Busby. As the third quint to be born, she is the middle child of sorts.

Hazel — or Hazel Basil as she's affectionately called by her friends and family — is certainly special in the Busby family. Not only is she adorable, she's funny, sassy, and has a heart of gold. But even if you've seen every episode of the series that's out there, you may not know all of the interesting tidbits about this young reality TV star. Here's the truth about Hazel Busby from OutDaughtered.

The Busby family had a bit of a harder time when the quints were born than a lot of other families. Not only did they welcome five girls at once, the quints were born prematurely, when OutDaughtered's Danielle Busby was just 28 weeks pregnant. Because of that, they had to stay in the NICU for quite some time, making any moment the parents got with their quintuplets that much more precious. And it seems as though Hazel Busby wanted to take full advantage of time with her parents once she busted out of the NICU. The cute quint was a total cuddlebug as a baby and loved to be loved. 

As Danielle wrote in a blog post for the It's A Buzz World blog, Hazel was still a sucker for snuggles by the time she turned one. "Still our little bit. Hazel is so sweet and loves to cuddle," Danielle wrote. "She doesn't even have to be tired and she will fall asleep in your arms if you are just loving on her. She is a pretty happy baby until she is tired." Hazel likely missed out on at least some cuddles as a newborn, but she's more than made up for them.

For those who aren't aware or aren't all caught up with OutDaughtered, Hazel Busby was born with an eye condition called nystagmus that causes her eyes to flutter. When she was just one, she underwent surgery to correct the condition. However, parents Adam and Danielle were obviously torn up about their tiny daughter undergoing an operation.

"It's scary thinking about Hazel going into eye surgery," Danielle said in an episode of OutDaughtered. "There's risk involved with that. Hazel could even get an infection. She could lose her eyesight. This surgery fix is not even about her vision — it's more so to just correct the placement of where her eye goes to focus better so she doesn't have to turn her neck, which is a huge deal." Fortunately, everything turned out okay for Hazel. Although she may need another surgery later in life, her first surgery went great, even though her parents were understandably concerned.

As the Busby quints have gotten older, fans of OutDaughtered have enjoyed watching them grow and develop. But when the rest of the quints started walking, Hazel Busby wasn't quite there yet — and it was worrisome for Danielle.

In an episode of OutDaughtered, Adam and Danielle took all six kids to a play-gym, where it became obvious that Hazel was struggling. "She's looking straight, but maybe because of her condition of nystagmus — which is causing her eyes to flutter, so [they] move back and forth — she's still the only one who isn't walking yet, and it sucks," Danielle said. "I mean, I know they all kind of develop and grow [at] their own pace, but I don't want her to be left behind or not be able to hang with her sisters." Although it took her a little longer than her sisters, Hazel did successfully master walking.

As quintuplets, many people might assume that the OutDaughtered quints are codependent and don't really branch out from each other. But as far as Hazel Busby is concerned, that isn't the case at all. Sure, she loves her sisters, but Hazel is known to be independent, both at home and even at school. 

In the It's A Buzz World blog, Danielle Busby wrote about sending all the quints off to their first day of school. It was a pretty big moment for everyone, and even though Danielle explained that she had to separate some quints so they wouldn't only talk to each other, she said that she wasn't really worried about Hazel. "Hazel is so independent and [couldn't] care less if her sisters are in the same room as her," Danielle wrote. "She is super social and confident, she will do amazing meeting new friends." Hey, meeting new people is hard at any age, but for Hazel to be so bold as a toddler? Well, that's pretty awesome.

It would be understandable for a toddler to be wary of having to wear glasses. After all, when you want to run around all day, do cartwheels, or chase your sisters, having glasses on may not seem like the ideal situation. But for Hazel Busby, her glasses are just part of what makes her so unique — and she loves them. In fact, when Hazel turned four, she had to get a new pair of glasses. And her reaction to them was just too cute.

In an episode of OutDaughtered, Adam and Danielle Busby take Hazel to get her new "big-girl glasses." Danielle told the camera, "This is her first pair of fragile glasses." She continued, saying, "There's a lot riding on how she responds to them." When they got inside and Hazel tried on her new glasses, she instantly smiled. "Hazel! You look so darn grown up," Danielle exclaimed. Hazel even told the camera, "I like my new glasses." And when the Busbys pulled up to their house, she was even more excited and said, "I get to show my sisters!" Clearly, Hazel feels confident in her glasses, and she looks amazing, too.

There's a reason parents call the second year of a child's life the terrible twos. Typically, two-year-olds tend to act up, which is totally understandable. As they adjust to the world they live in, it's only natural for them to push boundaries. But according to OutDaughtered's Danielle Busby, Hazel Busby spent a lot of her terrible twos in a very angry state. In fact, Danielle explained that her fiery redheaded daughter had quite a temper on her.

In a It's A Buzz World blog post about the quints second birthday, Danielle described Hazel as "soft-spoken, [lovable]" and "just pure sweetness." However, that wasn't all. "But don't let her [fool] you too much ... she has a bit of a temper in her when she gets mad. She will scream loud like no other," she continued. Even though Hazel is cute and cuddly, she still has some fire in her, as Danielle explained.

Hazel Busby's eye condition, nystagmus, has been a pretty big plot point on OutDaughtered. Fans have been riveted by Hazel's surgery, eye-doctor appointments, and experience with glasses. It's safe to say that everyone wants the best for Hazel, but according to Adam and Danielle, there's no way to know what the future holds for the young star.

In a post for Nystagmus Awareness Day, the Busbys explained their experience with the condition. "We have no idea how far-reaching her condition will affect her later in life," the post read. "We have heard it all; from being considered legally blind and not being able to drive a car, to just needing glasses and may struggle to focus and everything in between." Additionally, in an interview with Us Weekly, Danielle explained, "It's something she was born with and she'll have it the remainder of her life ... there's no official cure to it." When asked about Hazel's surgery, Danielle explained, "It's inevitable that one day she'll have another [surgery] and so we visit her eye doctors every couple months." Whatever happens, Hazel has some awesome parents supporting her along the way.

When the OutDaughtered quints were younger, it was harder to tell them apart. As they've gotten older, though, they've come more into their own features and it's easier for even fans to discern between Ava and Parker Busby and so on. But Hazel has almost always been easy to spot; Hazel is the only quint with red hair.

For a while, fans were a little confused about Hazel's hair, since neither Adam nor Danielle has red hair. As it turns out, both Adam and Danielle carry the ginger gene. "We actually have family members on both sides with red hair," Adam said in an Instagram comment (via In Touch). Hazel's hair wasn't always red, though. In fact, in a blog post, for It's A Buzz World, Danielle wrote about the quints a month after they were born and when she described Hazel, red hair wasn't part of the equation. "Her face is looking more and more like a baby and she is so darn cute with her full head of blonde hair!" Danielle described. Wherever Hazel's hair comes from, she sure does rock it.

Adam and Danielle Busby were concerned when it took Hazel some time to get the hang of her large motor skills, but there were no such concerns about the quint's cognitive ability. As fans learned while watching an episode of OutDaughtered, Adam and Danielle visited their quints' school to learn how the girls did on their first school tests. The teacher explained that 40 is the "average" score they would want to see from kids of around the same age. But Hazel didn't score a 40. The teacher revealed that Hazel had scored a 52, which the teacher described as "hugely wonderful."

That's pretty impressive for a little one! And even though Hazel's teacher did say that she might be struggling to notice different letters because of her eye condition, she still scored above average on her first school test. Hazel Busby is pretty much a little genius.

Anyone who has seen OutDaughtered knows that Hazel Busby has a very special relationship with a certain family member: Uncle Dale. Dale Mills is married to Danielle Busby's sister, Crystal, and lives close to the Busbys, which means Uncle Dale and Hazel can hang out pretty often. But really, the bond the two share goes far beyond making pizza together.

Hazel was the first quint that the proud uncle got to hold in the NICU, which might explain their special bond. The connection between Hazel and her Uncle Dale is so palpable that fans have even given the duo an adorable nickname: Dazel. In an Instagram post, Dale shared the sweet moment when he first held Hazel and if his teary eyes are any indication, it was love at first sight. "And this is where #DAZEL all began... Buzz [Danielle] found this picture from the first time I visited the NICU," he captioned the photo. The sweet uncle and Hazel are practically besties — and it's so fun to watch.

One of the best parts about raising kids has to be watching them discover their own talents and skills as well as find the things that they are passionate about. For Hazel Busby, that just so happens to be science. In fact, OutDaughtered's Hazel may grow up to have a career in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — or STEM — field, Danielle Busby mused.

In a blog post in honor of the quints' third birthday on the It's A Buzz World blog, Danielle wrote that Hazel had a pretty specific skill set as she was getting older. "Hazel is really smart," the mom of six explained. "Loves to focus on projects and understand how things work or go together. She is our little engineer/scientist." That's impressive for the then-3-year-old to be able to work on projects and see things from such an analytical perspective! But when it comes to Hazel Busby, nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

Even though the Busby quints on OutDaughtered are all young, Hazel Busby has started to expand her horizons in terms of her interests. Though she be but little, she is fiercely into members of the opposite sex. Yes, as it turns out, Hazel Grace may already be a little boy-crazy.

In a sit-down meeting with the quints' teacher, Adam and Danielle Busby learned that little Miss Hazel Grace had quite a reputation at school for being interested in boys. "She wants to make sure she's by a boy," the teacher told the Busbys of Hazel's tactic for finding a seat in the class. At that, both Adam and Danielle laughed, and when a producer asked Hazel's sister, Riley, "Who likes sitting next to boys at school?" Riley's immediate response was, of course, Hazel. Hazel herself even admitted to it, telling a producer she likes to sit "near a boy" while giggling. It was honestly the cutest moment, but Adam wasn't that thrilled and was instead shocked that "sweet, innocent little Hazel" was the boy-crazy quint.

Adam and Danielle Busby tend to describe Hazel Busby as a total ray of light, full of joy and manners. But that isn't always the case. In one episode of OutDaughtered, it became clear that Hazel wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

In the midst of the family meeting about discipline and new punishments, Hazel melted down when her dad told her to she couldn't have more candy. Hazel started crying, screaming, and even tried to hide the candy behind her back, which was admittedly pretty clever. Still, Adam and Danielle followed through on their discipline, sending her to her room.

Later, though, they were surprised that Hazel acted out. "The one child that usually follows all the rules, says 'please,' 'thank you' — the most polite child we have — chooses the night we're having a family meeting to choose to disobey!" Adam exclaimed, laughing a bit at the sheer craziness of the situation. Hazel may typically be a well-behaved little girl, but that doesn't mean she isn't without her antics.

When Hazel Busby was first born, there were some complications. She was so tiny, weighing only two pounds and was the smallest quint. Additionally, the OutDaughtered's star's struggle with nystagmus have presented many challenges to the Busby family. But through it all Hazel Grace has remained a happy, precious little kid.

In a blog post for It's A Buzz World in honor of the quints' fifth birthdays, Danielle Busby wrote a sweet message for her red-headed daughter. "We can just watch this little free spirit for hours and just laugh [and] smile at anything she does," Danielle explained. "Her head and heart are still so full of love and magic, lol. Life in this little girl's eyes is just straight-up joy. She will make anyone and everyone fall in love with her instantly." Hazel might have had some health complications, but she seems not to have a care in the world.