Conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel came back into the spotlight last year after it was announced that Abby had married former Army veteran Josh Bowling back in 2021.
The duo, who were born in Minnesota, US back in 1990, recently celebrated their 35th birthdays, an age they may never have reached if it were not for the brave decision of their father Mike just moments after their birth.
They quickly became famous due to their rare condition as conjoined twins, or dicephalic parapagus twins, which means that they have two heads but share one body.
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They also recently opened up about how they are really connected, and it seems remarkable that they have been able to live seemingly such healthy lives, especially given the challenges conjoined twins have faced in the past.
Despite this, the two were quickly able to work well in unison and their lifestyle was brought in front of a national audience for the first time on the Oprah Winfrey show in 1996.
When they were 16, they got their own reality show on TLC, called Brittany & Abby.
After graduating from university, where they were hopefully only forced to pay one lot of tuition fees, the duo were hired as a fifth grade teacher, where they split their one-person pay, despite having different contracts.
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So, despite obvious challenges and no doubt some hateful comments on social media, the twins have been able to live happy and healthy lives for the most part, which simply may not have been possible if they had been separated at birth.
According to a Time magazine piece from 1996, their parents were told that they could be separated, but this would likely lead to many medical complications.
When posed the seemingly impossible question by the doctor, dad Mike said: “How could you pick between the two?”
Their mother Patty, who worked as a nurse, also knew all too well the life of pain they would likely be subjecting their daughters too if they went through with the procedure.
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She added: “If they were separated, they would pretty much cut them right down the middle. You can see that."
Both Patty and Mike will surely be happy with the decision they made after seeing their daughters grow up together, with Abby announcing her marriage back in 2024, which naturally led to a lot of questions surrounding their condition and how the marriage would work.
But the two have spent the last 35 years working together and no doubt are pretty in sync by now, so you imagine that they would've both had to be sure about the marriage before going ahead with it.
Topics: TLC
James Moorhouse