Uni-body
It's hard to fathom sharing a body with another person, but for conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel, it's their reality. Lucky for the curious person, their show was featured on TLC along shows such as My Strange Addiction, Little People Big World, Say Yes to the Dress and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. But, Abby & Brittany's show seemed to be at the top of the list.
They have such different personalities and they can sometimes remind us of our own sibling rivalry. The show goes into depth about how they live their lives as conjoined twins but it doesn't show everything! Here's everything you need to know about Abby and Brittany Hensel!
As conjoined twins, they share a body but they have separate vital organs.Separated Controls
Each twin has a separate heart, stomach, spine, lungs and spinal cord, yet they still have different brains, which comes with different personalities.
Each twin controls her half of their body, operating one of the arms and one of the legs, so they had to learn to walk only operating one side of the body. Talk about difficult!Coordination
But they've been doing it for so long, they make it look easy.
Growing up, learning how to crawl, clap or walk was difficult because they had to coordinate with the other.
Walking Habits
From this young age, the girls were able to work together to be able to perform tasks that would otherwise seem difficult while only being able to control one-half of your body.
The twins have different distinctive walks. Brittany tends to stand and walk on her tip-toes while Abby tends to walk more flat footed.This may look somewhat awkward, but the two make it work and can walk at a similar distance to other people.
Together
Abby and Brittany's parents immediately rejected the option to separate the twins because the doctors said it was likely that both would not survive the operation.
As the twins grew up, the parents knew they made the right decision because they could live happily as conjoined people!
16th Birthday
When they turned 16, they agreed to let TLC into their home to film a documentary about their teenage years and they later got a TV show out of it, which became one of the most popular shows on TLC in 2012.
Team Work
Together, they are able to walk, run, swim, drive and even ride a bicycle. They can also type on a computer, which would prove really difficult knowing that they can only operate one side of the body each.
They just have to coordinate efforts.
Double Tests
In addition to everything else the twins can do, they can even drive a car. Because the twins are two individual people, they had to take the written and driving test twice, one for each twin.
When driving, Abby controls everything on the right of the driver's seat and Brittany on the left.
Personality
Because they have really different personalities, it's sometimes expressed through their clothes.
They even get a seamstress to sew different necklines to emphasize their individuality.
Mathematics and Writing
The girls love different subjects, although only one excels in certain fields. Brittany enjoys writing, while Abby works with calculations.
It's like each of their brains operates on either a creative side or a math side.
Graduation
The twins attended Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota where they both majored in education.
After hard work and overcoming adversity, the two graduated from the university together in 2012.
Dreams and Hopes
Abby and Brittany told the Discovery Channel that they hoped to date, get married and have children.
But dating has always been an issue for the two girls, even though they have been wanting to get married and live a normal life.
Glimpses of negativity
Abby and Brittany have said that they don't mind being conjoined twins but they do hate it when people stare at them or when strangers start taking pictures of them without their permission.
They understand they're different, but want people to know that they don't like being looked down upon.
Oprah
When they were six years old, they appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, which started their recognition that would eventually become worldwide recognition.
After the Oprah Winfrey Show, the two appeared in news shows, documentaries and, of course, their television show on TLC.
Potential Artists
It's important for the twins to have hobbies, but it's probaly more important for the two to have the same hobbies so they can enjoy them at the same time.
According to the two, they are obsessed with playing musical instruments, going bowling and playing volleyball.
Two for Two
Although Abby and Brittany share a body, they always buy two movie tickets when they go to the theater.
This surprised many people, but they twins think it makes sense because they are two individual people.
Health Separation
Since they are two separate individuals, one can get sick while the other twin stays healthy! Brittany has suffered from pneumonia twice while Abby hasn't had it at all.
This baffled doctors for a while and still intrigues medical professionals. But one thing doctors concluded about this peculiarity is that the girls have a pair of their organs, such as two hearts and two pairs of lungs.
Cake Separation
During their birthday celebration, both girls receive individual cakes and presents.
Their parents are not only viewing them as separate individuals but they understand that the two girls enjoy different things, so they go out and get them presents that match their own individual personalities.
Different needs
It's tough to coordinate everything together sometimes, and they might not want to sleep or eat at the same time, but in the end, the sisters understand each other like nobody else does, so they sacrifice certain things for each other.