Conjoined Twins Respond After News One of Them Is Now Married
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it
The world is often fascinated by conjoined twins, and one of the most famous conjoined sisters is in the news again with the announcement that she has gotten married.
Abby and Brittany Hensel amazed millions of TV viewers in the 2012 TLC series “Abby & Brittany,” in which cameras followed their daily lives of living together in one body.
In November 2021, Abby married nurse practitioner Josh Bowling, the New York Daily News reported last month.
The twins kept the news to themselves for the most part, but the secret came to light recently.
Photos posted to social media show Bowling, an Army veteran, dancing with Abby and Brittany at their reception. The photos have been on the Hensels’ TikTok page for about a year, according to the Daily News.
@abbyandbrittanyhensel #happy #love #lovestory #forever #marriage ♬ Streets – Doja Cat
News of the marriage made headlines recently with plenty of social media chatter — and the twins addressed that in a TikTok post one day last month.
“The internet is extra LOUD today,” they wrote as they shared a video showing ancient sculptures of conjoined twins. “We have always been around.”
@abbyandbrittanyhensel The internet is extra LOUD today. We have always been around ❤️#abbyandbrittanyhensel #happy #love #lovestory #marriage ♬ Real Love Baby – Father John Misty
Abby and Brittany, now 34, are dicephalus conjoined twins, which the Daily News defined as twins sharing a bloodstream and organs below the waist.
In 2003, Brittany said they hoped one day to give birth and become mothers, but as of now, Abby is the stepmom of Bowling’s daughter from a previous marriage.
Though the twins share a single body below the rib cage, Bowling is married only to Abby. The three have not gone public with the exact nature of their relationship.
The Minnesota women retreated from the public spotlight a bit after the conclusion of their TLC series. Since then, the pair graduated from college and became fifth-grade teachers in their local school district, according to Eonline.
Despite their notoriety, they say they want to maintain some privacy.
Indeed, in 2006, Brittany said, “The whole world doesn’t need to know who we’re dating or what we’re gonna do and everything.”
“We absolutely hate when people take pictures of us,” Abby said in 2007. “And we will throw a fit about it and make them embarrassed.”
When the twins were born on March 7, 1990, their parents — Patty and Mike Hensel — expected to have a single child.
The girls arrived conjoined, and they had three arms. However, one was not functional and was removed early in their lives.
Their parents decided not to try and have them separated, as it may have meant at least one of them would die, and both would have had limited mobility if they survived the separation.
“How could you pick between the two?” Mike Hensel said in 2001, according to NBC’s “Today” show.
Today, the twins say they can’t imagine being separated.
They hope to live their lives, grow their family and serve as an inspiration to their community.
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