Abigail and Brittany Hensel

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Abigail and Brittany Hensel
Born	March 7, 1990 (age 17) Carver County, Minnesota, US
Occupation	Babysitting, nanny, high school students
Parents	Patty and Mike Hensel

Abigail "Abby" Loraine Hensel and Brittany "Britty" Lee Hensel (born 7 March 1990, Carver County, Minnesota, United States), are dicephalic conjoined twins. Brittany is the left twin, and Abigail is the right twin. They have two spines which join at the pelvis. They have two stomachs, three lungs, and two arms. (A third, underdeveloped and useless arm between their heads was amputated in infancy.)

1 Biography
2 Common organs
3 Filmography
4 References
5 External links

Biography

Abigail and Brittany Hensel's parents are Patty (a registered nurse) and Mike Hensel (a carpenter and landscaper). The twins have a younger brother named Dakota ("Koty") and a younger sister named Morgan. They were reared in New Germany, Minnesota and attend Lutheran High School in Mayer, Minnesota. They plan to graduate in 2008.

When the twins were born, their parents chose not to have them separated. As they share many bodily functions, the operation would have been risky and left them in wheelchairs. They do not regret their decision; the twins have themselves stated that they don't wish to be separated. At age 12, they underwent surgery at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare to correct scoliosis and to expand their chest cavity to prevent future difficulties with breathing.

Each of the twins manages one side of their conjoined body, controlling her own arm and leg, and receives no sensation from the other side. Yet, by coordinating their efforts, they are able to walk and run normally. They enjoy hobbies and sports including volleyball, basketball, kickball, swimming, cycling, and singing. They also play the piano and are avid computer users. Like many teenagers of their generation, they enjoy softball, digital photography, the internet, social networking, and talking on the telephone. In school, both twins love to talk, though Abby is outgoing while Brittany is more shy.^{[citation needed]}

Despite sharing a body, the twins have different tastes in food and clothes. Some of their clothes are altered so that they have two separate necklines in order to emphasize their individuality. According to the TLC documentary in 2006, they negotiate what they will wear each day. They will usually have separate meals, but sometimes will share a single meal for convenience sake (e.g. each takes a bite of a hamburger).

In April 1996 and September 1998, as six- and eight-year-olds, they appeared in Joined for Life, a documentary produced by Advanced Medical, distributed on the Discovery Health Channel. They also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 8 and April 29, 1996. In September 1998, 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 titled The Hensels' Summer. In 2003, an updated story of them at age 11 (filmed in 2001) was published in Time and again in Life.

They appeared in a follow-up documentary on The Learning Channel on December 17, 2006 filmed around the time of their 16th birthday, in which they discuss dealing with puberty and getting their driver's licenses.

They successfully passed their driver license exam, both the written and driving tests. They had to take the tests twice, once for each twin. Both control the steering wheel, while Abby controls the pedals and shifter, and Brittany controls the turn signal.

Their brains and spinal cords are completely separate. It could be that their brains can coordinate motor activities via the solar plexus and similar nerve networks in the abdomen which are linked to both spinal cords and vagus nerves from both brains.

Common organs

Most of Abigail and Brittany's shared organs lie below the waist line.

2 heads
2 arms—originally 3, but the short malformed central arm was removed
2 spinal cords and backbones—surgery corrected scoliosis
3½ lungs—surgery expanded their chest cavity while correcting scoliosis
2 breasts
2 hearts in a shared circulatory system—medicine taken by either affects both
1 liver
2 stomachs
3 kidneys
2 gallbladders
1 bladder
1 ribcage
1 large intestine
1 reproductive system
1 pelvis with 2 legs

Filmography

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

The following is a list of documentaries and other television appearances.

First aired	Title	Distributor	Produced by
April 8, 1996	The Oprah Winfrey Show	King World Productions	Harpo Productions
March 27, 2003	Joined for Life	Discovery Channel	Advance Medical Productions, American Broadcasting Company
December 17, 2006	Joined for Life: Abby and Brittany Turn 16	The Learning Channel	Advance Medical Productions
February 19, 2007	Extraordinary People: The Twins Who Share a Body	Five (UK)	One North