Abby and Brittany, the twins with one body

I read about twins for the first time when I was 11 years old. I was at the doctor’s and in the waiting room there were medical and scientific journals.

I started to leaf through them and read the story of these two Siamese twins who had two heads but only one body. I distinctly remember the pictures in which they were riding their bikes and I was just fascinated by them.

At the time there were no smartphones and computers were not yet so widespread, so for years I wondered what had become of those two little girls, who were only a few years younger than me.

Thanks to the Internet, many years later, I’ve finally found out, and today this is what I’d like to talk about in this article.

Abby and Brittany, a body and two souls

Abby and Brittany Hensel are Siamese twins born on 7^th March 1990. They are attached from the torso and are so symmetrical that they look like they have only one body.

In reality their two bodies are fused with each other and have, aside from two arms and two legs:

• 2 hearts
• 2 spinal chords
• 2 bone marrows
• 1 ribcage with 4 lungs
• 2 stomachs
• 2 gallbladders
• 1 liver
• 1 intestine
• 1 set of reproductive organs
• 3 kidneys
• 1 bladder

Initially there was a third arm on their back, but this was removed surgically.

No one expected them to be Siamese twins, in fact, the ultrasound showed only one fetus.

Their birth was a shock to the doctors, but their parents had loved them from the first moment they had set eyes on them.

Abby and Brittany are dicephalic parapagus twins, meaning two heads joined to a single torso, and twins of this kind very rarely survive into adulthood. Abby and Brittany have been very lucky.

After the birth, however, the parents were advised to try to separate the twins, but the chances of survival of both were minimal.

But seeing that Abby and Brittany could perform normally every activity, parents refused to the idea of separating them, saying that their quality of life would be better if they stayed united.

Each of the two twins controls one half of the body and they are very synchronized to carry out every activity at their best.

Abby e Brittany as adults

The twins lead a normal life.They graduated from high school in 2008 and in 2012 earned degrees in education from Bethel University, in Minnesota. They have been teachers since 2013 and today teach a fifth-grade class at Sunnyside Elementary in New Brighton, Minnesota.

They have a license and had to sit two theory tests and two practice ones, one for each twin.

They have different personalities and tastes: Abby is good at math while Brittany is great at writing.

They have been the subject of several documentaries and said they said at 16 that they wanted a boyfriend, to get married and to have children. In 2012 they also had their own reality show on TLC, Abby & Brittany. In 2021 Abby married Josh Bowling, a nurse and army veteran. They dislike being stared at or photographed by strangers in their private lives.

Sources

• Abby and Brittany Hensel – Wikipedia