Conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel may share one body but each has their own heart. Now, Abby has given hers away in marriage – and is hoping that a baby is next on the cards!
It was revealed that Abby secretly tied the knot to Josh Bowling, a US nurse and army veteran, in November 2021. Photographs of Abby and father-of-one Josh on their special day circulated online.
In one official portrait, Abby beams into Josh’s eyes while looking every inch the blushing bride. In another, they can be seen enjoying their first dance.
News of the secret wedding fascinated the world. But then, Abby is used to people being curious about how her and Brittany’s lives work.
The pair are dicephalus conjoined twins, which is a rare form of partial twinning where two heads are connected to one torso.
They share a bloodstream and all organs below the waist, but each has their own heart, lungs and spinal cord. Abby controls their right arm and leg, and Brittany the left side limbs. They can eat and write separately and also simultaneously.
Now 34, Abby and Brittany teach Year 5 at a primary school in New Brighton, Minnesota. They love children and help Josh, also 34, co-parent his eight-year-old daughter Isabella Rose, from his first marriage.
If Abby can realise her own dream of becoming a mum, Isabella may soon have a little brother or sister to play with. She and Brittany revealed over a decade ago that “we are going to be mums one day”, but added, “we don’t want to talk about how it’s going to work yet.”
The world first became intrigued by the remarkable twins when they appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show at just six years old. They returned to the spotlight 16 years later with their own reality TV series, Abby & Brittany.
Their parents opted not to separate them because of the high risk that only one would survive. Abby and Brittany have always maintained, “We are totally different people”.
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