Conjoined Twin Abby Hensel from TLC’s ‘Abby & Brittany’ Ties the Knot

Conjoined twin Abby Hensel, who gained fame on TLC’s reality series “Abby & Brittany,” has recently married, as per reports.

At the age of 34, Abby quietly wed nurse and U.S. Army veteran Josh Bowling in 2021, according to public records reviewed by Today.

Photographs from the Hensels’ Facebook profile strongly suggest a wedding ceremony, showcasing the conjoined twins in a white wedding dress holding hands with a man in a gray suit.

Abby and Brittany, now fifth-grade educators, reside in their hometown of Minnesota, where they were born and raised.

Images on Bowling’s social media depict the family relishing nature hikes, ice cream outings, and snow tubing adventures.

Conjoined twins are an extraordinary occurrence, with an estimated 1 in 50,000 to 100,000 pregnancies resulting in such cases, although the true incidence is around 1 in 200,000 live births, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Abby and Brittany, categorized as dicephalus conjoined twins, possess two heads side by side on one torso. They maintain separate hearts and stomachs, but share one pair of arms and legs. Their spines converge at the pelvis, they share a bloodstream, and their organs below the waist are shared.

Abby manages their right arm and leg, while Brittany governs the left.

The twins initially gained public attention in 1996 following an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Subsequently, TLC documented their lives, chronicling their college endeavors and European travels.

Their parents, firmly against separation from the outset, declined medical suggestions, fearing the risk to both twins’ lives.

Dr. Joy Westerdahl, the family’s physician, lauded the twins’ ability to synchronize complex motions with two distinct brains, such as clapping, walking, swimming, and cycling.

In a 2003 documentary, the twins’ mother expressed their interest in motherhood one day, citing the functionality of their organs.

While Brittany acknowledged the desire to become mothers, they acknowledged they were just 16 and deferred thoughts about motherhood.

This story was reported from Cincinnati.