Abigail and Brittany Hensel are conjoined twins from
Minnesota. Being conjoined, they have had many struggles
throughout their lives.
Soon after they were born, doctors gave their parents the
bad news; the twins would not survive very long. The girls
are now 25 years old and are featured in a show, titled:
Abby and Brittany, which will show viewers how their every
days lives are.
These girls are one of the rarest set of dicephalus twins in
the world!
It is very rare to be born conjoined (1 in 40,000) and it is
even more rare to survive after birth (1% of the 1 in
40,000)! The fact that Abby and Brittany are alive and well
is a miracle.
Abby and Brittany came to be when a fertilized egg failed to
separate inside the womb.
They have two hearts, two spines joined at the pelvis, four
lungs, two esophagi, three kidneys, one ribcage, one liver, a
partially shared nervous system and a shared circulatory
system. From their waist down, all organs are shared
including the reproductive system, intestines and bladder.
Abby, the right twin can’t feel anything on the left side of
body while Brittany, the left twin can’t feel anything on her
right side.
Despite the fact that the twins can only feel their half of the
body they share, they still are able to type, play piano, bowl,
play volleyball, ride a bicycle, play softball, and swim, etc.
They were actually born with three arms, one arm was
removed surgically at the time of birth. During their life,
they have been operated on several times, but the twins
have remained in good health.
The twins have been in the media several times in their
lives. At the age of six, they appeared in Oprah Winfrey
show and on the cover of Life magazine. They stayed out
of the media for 10 years, and then when they were 16 the
girls were filmed for a TLC documentary. If features them
passing their driver’s test; each twin controls the steering
wheel with one arm. Their mother wondered which twin
would get the speeding ticket if they were ever pulled over.
The girls have to cordinate everything together and they
don’t always have the urge to eat or sleep at the same time
either.
Their parents have encouraged the twins to develop
individual personalities. They have exposed the twins to the
media, but have purposely kept it limited for the sake of the
girls and their other 2 children.
Although the two girls are individuals and they have the
urge to sleep and eat at different times, they still coordinate
among themselves to work as a single body.
Clothes have to be made special order for the twins
because they have 2 necklines. In order to show their own
styling and tastes, the girls have leggings made with
different colors on each leg. They wear different shoes on
each foot for the same reasoning as well.
Abby and Brittany have always been treated as two
separate identities. They even buy 2 movie tickets when
they go to the theater.
Their parents never thought of getting the twins separated.
One of them might die or get physically handicapped for the
rest of her life, so it just really wasn’t an option for them.
The girls were always treated as two separate individuals.
Patty (Abby and Brittany’s mother) said “when children ask
the girls if they have two heads, they say they don’t, but
that each has their own head. That’s what we have
encouraged them to do, to develop their own individuality
as much as possible.” They buy two separate cinema
tickets, separate meals and two different birthday cakes for
them. When the girls were younger, they made sure to
scold the right girl and not just scold them as one person.
Since the girls are two separate people, one twin can get
sick while the other stays healthy.
Abby and Brittany rarely fight. They eat on separate plates,
with one twin holding the knife and the other holding the
fork. The have to take turns eating. They alternate bite by
bite, with each girl helping to feed the other. One twin will
even scratch an itch for the other if the other twin’s hand
doesn’t react fast enough.
One can get an illness, while the other twin stays healthy.
For instance, Brittany has suffered from pneumonia twice
and Abigail, the stubborn one, always helped Brittany in
tough times
The twins have only once wished to separate from each
other and that was when Brittany suffered for pneumonia
for the first time in childhood. Abby got bored of being in
the bed all the time, when Brittany was ill. She said that she
needed the separation. Brittany would start crying and then
Abby promised her they would never part.
Now that the twis are full grown women, some questions
have arose: What happens if one twin falls in love? Will they
ever have children or wed?
Three years ago there was a rumor, in the news, about
Brittany being engaged. Those were just rumors, but they
made people think about their future. Now that the twins
are full grown women, some questions have arose. They
love each other very much, but what would happen if one
fell in love, or even worse, one fell in love with someone the
other twin hated? Since they share one reproductive
system, will they ever have children? Their father, Mike
believes that his daughters will get married someday.
Female conjoined twins have a much higher rate of live
birth and survival than male twins. Approximately 70
percent of all conjoined twins are girls.
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