Abigail Loraine Hensel and Brittany Lee Hensel ( born March 7, 1990 ) are dicephalic parapagus twins, meaning that they are conjoined twins, each of whom has a separate head, but whose bodies are joined. They are highly symmetric, giving the appearance of having just a single body with little variation from normal proportion. In fact, several vital organs are doubled up; each twin has a separate heart, stomach, spine, and spinal cord.
Each twin controls her half of their body, operating one of the arms and one of the legs. This means that as infants, the initial learning of physical processes that required bodily coordination, such as clapping, crawling, and walking required the cooperation of both children. While each is able to eat and write separately and simultaneously, activities such as running and swimming must be coordinated and alternate symmetrically. Other activities as diverse as brushing hair and driving a car require that each twin perform a sequence of separate actions that coordinate with the other.
Despite the curiosity that their condition has generated, the Hensel twins have managed to live private lives with relatively little press attention. At the age of 16, they gave an interview on The Learning Channel on December 17, 2006, in which they discussed aspects of their daily lives and plans for the future
Each twin controls her half of their body, operating one of the arms and one of the legs. This means that as infants, the initial learning of physical processes that required bodily coordination, such as clapping, crawling, and walking required the cooperation of both children. While each is able to eat and write separately and simultaneously, activities such as running and swimming must be coordinated and alternate symmetrically. Other activities as diverse as brushing hair and driving a car require that each twin perform a sequence of separate actions that coordinate with the other.
Despite the curiosity that their condition has generated, the Hensel twins have managed to live private lives with relatively little press attention. At the age of 16, they gave an interview on The Learning Channel on December 17, 2006, in which they discussed aspects of their daily lives and plans for the future
Abigail and Brittany have individual organs in the upper part of their body, while most of them located at or below the level of the navel are shared, the exception being the spinal cord. Here is complete list of their organs in detail:
- 2 heads
- 2 spines merging at the coccyx and joined at the thorax by sections of ribs. Surgery was employed to correct scoliosis.
- 2 completely separate spinal cords
- 2 arms (originally 3, but rudimentary central arm was surgically removed, leaving central shoulder blade in place)
- 1 broad ribcage with 2 highly fused sternums and traces of bridging ribs. Surgery was employed to expand the pleural cavities.
- 2 breasts
- 2 hearts in a shared circulatory system (nutrition, respiration, medicine taken by either affects both)
- 4 lungs with the medial lungs moderately fused, not involving Brittany's upper right lobe; three pleural cavities
- 1 diaphragm with well-coordinated involuntary breathing, slight central defect
- 2 stomachs
- 2 gallbladders
- 1 liver, enlarged and elongated right lobe
- Y-shaped small intestine, which experiences a slightly spastic double peristalsis at the juncture
- 1 large intestine with one colon
- 3 kidneys: 2 left, 1 right
- 1 bladder
- 1 set of reproductive organs
- 2 separate half-sacrums, which converge distally
- 1 slightly broad pelvis
- 2 legs
The twins appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 8 and April 29, 1996. In April 1996, the twins were featured on the cover of Life under the caption "One Body, Two Souls", and their daily lifestyle was depicted in the corresponding article entitled "The Hensels' Summer". Life followed up with another story in September 1998. In 2002, they appeared in Joined for Life, a TV documentary by Advanced Medical Productions, distributed on the Discovery Health Channel and a 2003 follow-up, Joined at Birth. In 2003, an updated story of them at age 11 ( filmed in 2001 ) was published in Time and again in Life. In 2006, Advanced Medical made another documentary, Joined for Life: Abby & Brittany turn 16, that discusses the girls' adolescence, school and social life and activities such as getting their driver's licenses. The twins currently star in the reality TV show Abby & Brittany that started in August 2012. Here are some more photos of the amazing twins...
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