The Twins Who Share a Body

Abigail and Brittany Hensel

Born in 7 March 1990, the girls have been brought up in a small, tightly community in Minnesota, almost completely protected from prying eyes and inquisitive stares. To their friends and family, they are distinct people with very different personalities, needs, tastes and desires. But to the outside world, they are a medical mystery-particularly given the that they can do virtually all the same things as their friends, including playing the piano, riding a bike, swimming and playing softball. “Their personalities make them inspirational,” says their mother Patty. “They never give up; anything they want to do, they go out and do it.”

Every moment of their lives requires the twins to cooperate with each other, and they appear to be totally in sync, but that doesn’t mean they always agree. Brittany describes Abby as bossy and outspoken. Abby describes Brittany as having been shy but becoming more confident, she likes to take her time with things.

Queen Charlotte Hospital in London specialises in the most complicated twin pregnancies. Professor Nick Fisk of the hospital, has followed the case of Abby and Brittany since they were born. “I have never seen, previously, a set of surviving dicephalus twins, so they are extraordinarily rare and the only ones, to my knowledge, alive today.

They have two separate hearts, one in each side of the chest, and each has it’s own set of lungs. Abby and Brittany had three arms at birth, but the third was a useless mid-line arm that didn’t function so it was removed when they were very young.

The family have always refused to have any non-essential tests carried out on the girls, despite great interest from the medical profession. While the girls are unique, the family wants to treat them just like everyone else.