

1 diaphragm with well coordinated involuntary breathing, slight central defect.4 lungs with the medial lungs moderately fused, not involving Brittany's upper right lobe three pleural cavities.2 hearts in a shared circulatory system (nutrition, respiration, and medicine taken by either affects both).


They cooperatively use their limbs when both hands or both legs are required. Stomach aches, however, are felt by only the twin on the opposite side. The sense of touch of each is restricted to her body half this shades off at the midsagittal plane, so that there is a small amount of overlap at the midline. Įach twin manages one side of their conjoined body. At age 12, they underwent surgery at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare to correct scoliosis and to expand their chest cavity to prevent breathing trouble. The continued growth of Abby's spine was surgically halted after Brittany prematurely stopped growing. Brittany's leg is nearly two inches shorter than Abby's and Brittany tends to stand and walk on tip-toe which has made her calf muscle significantly larger than Abby's. It was removed, leaving the shoulder blade.Ībby's head tilts laterally outward about 5 degrees to the right, while Brittany's tilts laterally at about 15 degrees to the left, causing her to appear shorter even when seated. At birth, they had a rudimentary arm between the bases of their necks attached to a shoulder blade at the back. The twins have a single body with separate heads and necks, a chest that is wider than average, two arms, and two legs. They were raised in New Germany, Minnesota, attended Mayer Lutheran High School, in Mayer, and graduated from Bethel University, in St. The twins were born in Carver County, Minnesota, to Patty, a registered nurse, and Mike Hensel, a carpenter and landscaper. JSTOR ( February 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately.įind sources: "Abby and Brittany Hensel" – news This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Since 2013, the two have been teachers in Minnesota. They starred in their own reality television series, Abby & Brittany, on TLC in 2012. They were interviewed on The Learning Channel in December 2006, discussing their daily lives and future plans. The twins' lives have been covered in the popular media, including Life magazine and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Activities such as running, swimming, hair-brushing, playing piano or volleyball, riding a bicycle, or driving a car require coordination. They can eat and write separately and simultaneously. When they were infants, learning to crawl, walk, and clap required cooperation. Each has a heart, stomach, spine, pair of lungs, and spinal cord. They are dicephalic parapagus twins (having two heads joined to one torso), and are highly symmetric for conjoined twins, giving the appearance of having a single body without marked variation from typical proportions. Fifth-grade teachers at Sunnyside Elementary in New Brighton, Minnesota Ībigail Loraine Hensel and Brittany Lee Hensel (born March 7, 1990) are American conjoined twins.
