Two very different girls share the same body, and their name is Abby and Brittany Hensel. Conjoined twins tackle every challenge since birth with smiles on their faces. A doctor told their parents when they were born that he didn’t expect them to live until the following day. Since their time on TLC, the twins have moved away from home, graduated from college, and even gotten jobs. The only question we could think of is what’s next for these over achievers? Since birth they have miraculously survived and continued to exceed expectations.
The Showstoppers
Abby and Brittany Hensel became internationally famous with TLC’s 2012 reality show Abby & Brittany.
The show portrayed the conjoined twins in a positive light, showing the world that despite their different appearances, they are just as capable and fun-loving as any other teen. Where they are now is quite stunning…
Life In The Spotlight
Although TLC’s Abby & Brittany wasn’t released until August 2012, the Hensel twins have been no strangers to the public eye, having appeared in popular media sources since the mid-90’s.
Their first experience with fame came on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996, followed shortly by a cover feature in Life Magazine under the caption “One Body, Two Souls.” The article, titled The Hensels’ Summer, described the twins’ day-to-day life and was followed up just two years later.
Oprah
While today the twins don’t remember too much about the time Oprah Winfrey invited them onto her show over twenty years ago, the rest of the world still does.
Their appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show was really the first time the conjoined twins were exposed to such a large audience. Their story resinated with millions of Americans from all over the country and marked the beginning of a new chapter of fame, recognition, and popularity in the girls’ lives.
Television Celebrities
In 2002, the twins appeared on television for the first time in Joined For Life, a documentary created by Advanced Medical Productions and shown on the Discovery Health Channel, and again in a 2003 follow up called Joined At Birth.
In 2003, Life, along with Time published an updated story of the twins at age 11. In 2006, TLC put out their first television special about the twins called Joined For Life: Abby and Brittany Turn 16, and in 2007, they appeared in the UK series, Extraordinary People.
Growing Up Together
Abby and Brittany were born in Carver County, Minnesota to Patty, a registered nurse, and Mike Hensel, a carpenter and landscaper. They grew up with a younger brother and sister in New Germany, Minnesota.
Their childhood was full of struggles and challenges. The simplest of tasks that other children take for granted were extremely difficult for the conjoined twins to master. Because each twin only has control of half of their shared body, even crawling took a while to perfect.
Double Birthday Surprise
On March 7th, 1990, two beautiful babies came into this world with just one body. During Patty Hensel’s pregnancy, pre-natal scans had shown just one baby.
So when Patty gave birth to Dicephalus conjoined twins, it came as a huge shock to both parents. The twins had just a one in thirty million chance of living past the first twenty-four hours and the option of separation was quickly taken out of the equation because their body was so closely linked.
Success Stories
Make no mistake about it – Abby and Brittany’s story is nothing short of remarkable. It was clear as crystal though early on in their lives that it would be medically impossible to successfully separate them.
However, where the Hensel twins were unable to have such a successful feat performed on them, other conjoined twins were much more fortunate. On many occasions, separations have often costed the life of at least one twin, but there have been numerous success stories where both have survived…
Meet Kendra & Maliyah
One of the most notable successful separations in recent memory came a few years ago when conjoined twins Kendra and Maliyah Herrin underwent surgical separation.
They became the first set of conjoined twins ever to be separated while sharing a kidney. In order to successfully complete the procedure, Kendra kept the kidney they had once shared, while Maliyah received dialysis until she received a kidney from a donor. Of course, this isn’t the way that Abby and Brittany’s story was going to go.
They Shared A Liver, Pancreas & Intestines
Another incredible case that was successful against all the odds involved a pair of conjoined twins from the Dominican Republic.
Maria and Teresa Tapia’s hopes of separating were extremely slim as they were attached by their lower chests and abdomens. This made them omphalopagus, which meant that they shared a liver, a pancreas and even part of their small intestine. However, when they were just a year and a half old, the twins were successfully separated.
Not Everything Is Shared
The Hensel twins’ parents always made an effort to instill in their children a sense of individualism and independence, pushing both Abby and Brittany to develop their own personalities and become their own person.
They have also pushed the twins to step outside their comfort zones, and try new things, whether it’s a new sport or musical instrument. Discipline has proved rather difficult for the parents of the twins, considering it’s not exactly fair to punish both sisters for something only one of them did.
Twinning
Twins are formed from one of two ways. Either a woman releases two eggs instead of one, or she produces one egg which goes on to divide after fertilization.
Conjoined twins are formed when a woman produces a single egg which doesn’t separate after fertilization. The embryo begins to grow and develop and begins to divide into identical twins during the first weeks following conception but the process is cut short, leaving a partially divided egg which develops into a conjoined fetus.
Sharing Is Caring
Abby and Brittany have two separate hearts, two pairs of lungs, two spines which connect to a shared pelvis, two esophagi, three kidneys, one ribcage, one liver, a semi-shared nervous system and a fully-shared circulatory system.
From their waist down, everything is shared including the reproductive system, intestines and bladder. Each twin can only feel sensations on their respective sides of their body. Abby and Brittany were actually born with three arms but the third arm was surgically removed shortly after birth.
The Price Of Fame
After their appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show at the age of six, the twins lived out somewhat normal lives for ten years until TLC took on their story in 2006.
Since then, the twins have gained a fair share popularity, often being recognized in public. As a friend of the twins put it, “Everywhere they go, they get the stares.” While the twins appreciate a friendly hello from fans, they really can’t stand when people stop and stare or take photos without asking permission.
Teamwork Is Key
Abby and Brittany are conjoined twins with a rare medical condition called dicephalic parapagus. The twins share a single body with separate heads and necks. Each twin controls one side of their conjoined body.
This means that even the most basic of physical tasks like walking, running, riding a bicycle, or swimming need to be well-rehearsed cooperative efforts. The twins have always welcomed new challenges though, and continue to live normal active lives, working together every step of the way.
The Original Hiltons
Before Abby and Brittany, there was Daisy and Violet Hilton. These British conjoined twins were born in 1908.
Like the Hensel twins, these sisters shared everything and were always in the spotlight, traveling Europe and the United States from a young age and eventually ending up in the vaudeville and American burlesque circuits in the 1920s and 1930s. Later in life, both sisters married gay men, a move which many believed to have been a publicity stunt. The twins died just before their 61st birthday.
Miracle Twins
Just one in every 200,000 live births results in a set of conjoined twins. Once born, their chances of survival are between 5 and 25 percent.
The Hensel girls are also the rarest form of conjoined twins, the result of a single fertilized egg failing to separate. In fact, upon birth, Abby and Brittany’s parents were told their babies wouldn’t survive 24 hours. 27 years later here they are, living happy and healthy lives, and proving just how extraordinary they truly are.
Conjoined Facts
Sadly, about 40 to 60 percent of conjoined twins are stillborn at birth and 35 percent don’t make it past their first 24 hours.
Conjoined twins are always of the same gender, and for an unknown reason, females have a much better survival rate. One of the first ever documented cases of conjoined twins dates all the way back to the year 1100 in Biddenton, County of Kent, England. Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst were born as conjoined twins and lived to be 34 years old.
Experiencing Sickness Alone
While Abby and Brittany Hensel may share vital organs, they actually will get sick independent of one another. For example, Brittany once suffered a pretty severe childhood pneumonia while Abby remained completely healthy.
As a matter of fact, when Brittany was feeling too sick to take her medication, Abby even tried taking the medication to cure her sister. Such sisterly love these two share! The only exception to this strange phenomenon is stomach aches, which are felt in the opposite twin’s stomach.