Brittany Hensel’s rights now her conjoined twin is legally married
Conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel have spent their lives doing everything together.
And when Abby married nurse and US Army veteran Josh Bowling back in 2021, many people started asking the same questions.
What does this mean for Brittany?
Advert
The twins first stepped into the spotlight back in 1996 following an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show as six-year-olds.
Years after that, they had their own reality TV show on TLC.
These days, the Minnesota-born dicephalus conjoined twins - which means that they share organs from the waist down - have degrees in education and are now both elementary school teachers in their home state.
Each of them are their own individual person - but Abby has control of the right limbs, while Brittany is in charge of the left hand side, so they share the workload of everyday life evenly.
As fifth grade teachers in Minnesota, they also divide their responsibilities at work, too.
The pair share their lives on social media, and many of Abby and Josh's wedding pictures are posted online, too.
After seeing the photos, many wondered about Brittany and what the marriage would mean for her and whether she could get married if she wanted to.
One person on Reddit asked: "How does this unfold legally? Since they are two people married to one man, who is on the marriage certificate?"
Some were unsure, but one user who seemed to have a theory on how it could work, writing: "One of the twins will be the legal spouse as far as the state is concerned. So it is theoretically possible that the other twin could someday decide to marry a different person.
"But given the way they have had to harmonise their entire lives, I imagine they would find it easier to stick to being married to just one person."
Another person theorised: “Yes. Abby and Brittany are legally two different people. In practice, it’s a little more confusing.
"This is probably more like they are all married, but legally only one of them can be married to that one dude. You know, because polygamy is illegal.”
Another said: "My guess is that only Abby would be legally married. I remember back when they learned how to drive, they each needed to get their own driver’s license for legal reasons, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the marriage laws were also applied in the same way to reflect that they’re two individual people (despite sharing a physical body)."
Another pair of conjoined twins, Carmen and Lupita, have revealed how their relationships work.
While neither are married, Carmen has a boyfriend who she has been dating for 18 months.
While Lupita explained she is asexual, Carmen explained she met her boyfriend on Hinge.
"It was a learning process for everyone," said Carmen.
"We had to have a discussion on what boundaries are okay and what aren't. "We're not intimate in that way and he's okay with that."
Topics: Sex and Relationships, US News, TV
Lucy Devine