Twins Who Were Conjoined at Birth Are Now Elementary School Teachers
Abby and Brittany Hensel were born on March 7, 1990, and are conjoined since birth.
The pair, who are dicephalic parapagus twins (having two heads on one torso), first appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in April 1996; later that same month and in September 1998, the two were featured in the now-defunct Life magazine.
During their adolescence, Abby and Brittany landed their own TLC reality show where they talked about their lives and health complications while being conjoined.
The twins’ show, which aired for one season, chronicled their lives before, during, and after college graduation.
That was nearly 10 years ago, so what are Abby and Brittany Hensel up to today? Keep reading to find out!
The inner workings of Brittany and Abby’s anatomy are astonishing, too. Their upper body, for instance, contains separate organs for each twin – meaning they have a pair of stomachs, two hearts and four lungs. At the same time, the pair share the lower half of their body, and so together they possess a single reproductive system, one large intestine and a shared liver.
This setup makes for an extraordinary outcome when the twins are under the weather.
While Abby can only experience discomfort on the left portion of her body, any twinges for Brittany come solely from her right. And if one of the duo has stomach pains, the same phenomenon affects her sister on the opposite side.
The girls have to deal with seemingly disparate body temperatures as well.On their TLC reality show Abby & Brittany, Brittany described her and her sister’s shared frame as having a metaphorical red line down the middle. The twin claimed that she regularly felt hot and sweaty; by contrast, Abby maintains her coolness and generally feels “totally fine.”
And Abby and Brittany each control one half of their body – that is, one arm and one leg each. Together, then, the girls have had to work as a team to master crawling and walking. In later years, they’ve also learned how to swim, run, brush their hair and even drive side by side.
Unlike other sets of conjoined twins who can be separated via surgery, Abby and Brittany’s parents decided against the operation after learning that it was doubtful both girls would survive the procedure.
The sisters share many vital organs,
including an enlarged liver, a bladder, a diaphragm, both reproductive and digestive systems, and intestines. Each twin controls one arm and one leg, which requires a great deal of cooperation to complete simple tasks such as walking, running, and driving a car.
Abby and Brittany grew up in Minnesota and graduated from Mayer Lutheran High School in 2008. They attented Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minn. with a degree in Education by 2012.
They both are elementary school teachers with two seperate degrees and licences, however, they still are paid a single paycheck.
“Obviously, right away, we understand that we are going to get one salary because we’re doing the job of one person,” Abby told BBC in 2013.
They were working part-time and instead of receving the full-salary their compensation was split into two.
While the doctors had announced at their birth that they wouldn’t survive the night, the twins went ahead to establish a great life for themselves. They love activities such as bowling, volleyball, cycling, softball, and swimming, as well as playing the piano, with Abby taking the right-hand parts and Brittany taking the left.
Source:daily.lessonslearnedinlife.com, distractify.com, imdb.com, maternityweek.com
