Abby and Brittany Hensel’s arrival was a surprise to her parents and the doctors who attended to their mother in the labor room because her antenatal scan only showed a child, not two. Abby and Brittany Hensel were born as dicephalic parapagus (conjoined twins) and their parents were given two options; separate them and risk losing one or both or leave them to grow up together.

The survival rate of conjoined twins male or female is said to be dicey and slim in the ratio of 1 in every 400,000 after birth. This makes the case of Abby and Brittany one of the rarest occurrence which happens 1 in every 4,000 births but it is also believed that female conjoined twins have more survival rate than their male counterparts, with a 70% chance at life after their birth.

Abby and Brittany Hensel are the world’s longest surviving, most famous conjoined twins. They have one body, share a pair of limbs, with two heads, two pairs of eyes, two necks,  with separate vital organs such as two hearts, three kidneys, two spines joined at the pelvic region and four lungs but share ribcage, circulatory, nervous, and reproductive systems. They have learned over years to coordinate and synchronize their separate and common activities such as walking, running, clapping, etc.

Abby and Brittany Hensel’s Bio

Abigail Loraine aka “Abby” and Brittany Lee Hensel aka “Britt” are twins born to Patty and Mike Hensel on March 7, 1990. Their mother is a registered nurse and their father is a carpenter and a landscaper. The twins have two younger siblings – a brother Dakota and sister Morgan Hensel. They were born in Carver County, Minnesota but grew up in New Germany, Minnesota.

The twins graduated from Mayer Lutheran High School then pursued a course in education in the University of Bethel, St. Paul in 2012. Abby and Brittany after college actually proceeded to live out one of their dreams of touring the world with two of their friends. They were able to tour some parts of Europe including Italy, Venice, and London, excitedly capturing every single moment of their trip and sharing their experiences.

After obtaining a bachelor of arts degree in education, Abby and Brittany Hensel secured a part-time job as 4th-grade teachers. They shared responsibilities in the class and then got promoted for their hard work, excellence, and professionalism exhibited at the job to 5th-grade teachers.

Are They Married or Engaged?

There were rumors that one of the twins, Brittany Hensel was in a relationship with a guy but this was never substantiated as there was no proof to support the rumor. The twins have managed to keep their love life away from the public and even from their mother. If there was to be a probable cause for them to marry or have sex, would that not seem like a threesome since they are after all two distinct personalities in one body. Besides, seeing that the twins cooperate and coordinate their individual reflexes, muscles, hormones, psychology, etc, it would require the agreement of both of them to indulge in sex.

Though the twins had expressed the desire to have their own family and kids in the future – a wish we hope happens for them. But for now, they remain single, unhitch and also not engaged to anyone.

Facts To Know About The Conjoined Twins

1. Appearance On The Media

The twins had in their early years, been interviewed at different times. At age 6, they appeared in Oprah Winfrey Show, and the cover of the Life Magazine, etc before they went off media for 10 years and at age 16 they again allowed TLC to film their teenage years as a documentary. They have also been featured in Discovery Health Channels, BBC, Extraordinary People, ABC TV, and at some point had their own reality show too.

One very true fact about Abby and Brittany is that they love keeping a low profile and do not like being stared at, glared, photographed or videos of them taken without proper consent. This actually upsets them extremely as they feel it is a violation of their privacy and personality.

2. Nature, Personalities, and Preferences

Abby is said to be bossy, very demanding, big talker, quite outspoken while Brittany is quiet, easy going, more contemplative, reserved, more fragile, in nature. Abby is left handed while Brittany is right-handed, they both coordinate their respective side activities like clapping, driving, etc.

Abby does not like city life with the noise and bursting that goes with it while Brittany loves the city life to the fullest and while the former excels when the subject is mathematics, the latter fares better in writing, nonetheless they both support and help each other out when they are stuck in the middle of their subjects.

They do not have the same taste and reactions to foods, drinks, sicknesses. While Abby is not easily affected by caffeine, Brittany’s heart rate increases on consumption of coffee. Abby is also adjudged to be the healthier of the two and while she likes purple pinkish colors, her sister resonates excellently with gold colors.

Despite their different nature and preferences, the twins love kids and love being around them. They have, in fact, been babysitters for two different families with two and three children respectively.

3. Surgeries

They both underwent surgery when they were babies, to remove their third hand from their chest, and again, at the age of 12 to halt Abby’s spine from growing further as her growth rate was faster than Brittany’s. They have also had a third surgery was to correct and expand their chest cavity in order to prevent future difficulties with breathing.

4. Height, Body Structure and Stats

Abby is taller of the two standing at 5 feet 2 inches and it would have been more had the surgical procedure had not been carried out on her spine to halt her growth. Her sister, on the other hand, is 4 feet 10 inches and has to always stand and walk on her toes in order to level up with her half. Abby’s head moves at 5 degrees to the right while Brittany tilts about 15 degrees to the left giving her necks a 2 inches shortfall from her sister.

5. Together Forever

The initial decision not to separate the twins in their early years was by their parents and as they grew older, the twins decided to remain jointed because of their closely linked body and the odds attached in the separation procedure.

The twins and their parents have over time declined to undergo any experimental testing and non-essential routine tests by doctors and scientists. This decision has left the medical world with limited knowledge about how they have managed to survive as conjoined twins and also about their functionalities.

6. Hobbies and Interests

They both love outdoor games and sports like swimming, volleyball, bowling and actually enjoy every bit of the games together. Abby and Brittany Hensel love music and have acquired skills in playing musical instruments like the piano.

7. Net Worth

The exact net worth value of Abby and Brittany Hensel is not known at the moment with several media outlets putting up varying figures. This is so because the true state of their income cannot be verified and substantiated at this moment, however, NetWorth Post puts the twins net worth at $700,000.