That's what we have encouraged them to do, to develop their own individuality as much as possible.' 'When children ask the girls if they have two heads, they say they don't but that each has their own head. 'We have talked about that with Abigail and Brittany,' she said. Once Patty heard a child at a swimming pool ask his mother if she had seen the little girl with two heads. Only when the family ventures outside this close-knit community does the curiosity of strangers have the potential to wound. They attended a private church school and are popular with their friends, who treat them no differently from anyone else. In infancy, a third undeveloped arm was removed from their chest and aged 12 they underwent surgery to correct scoliosis - curvature of the spine - and expand their chest cavity to prevent future breathing difficulties.
#ABBY AND BRITTANY HENSEL BATHING SUIT SERIES#
It's like that every time I pick them up from school, two kisses and one hug for the most beautiful children in the world.'īoth Mike and Patty's families have lived in a small midwestern farming community of 300 people for generations and it is here where they have brought up the twins and younger brother Dakota, 20, and sister Morgan, 18, away from the media spotlight.Īlthough Brittany is more susceptible to colds and has twice suffered pneumonia, the twins have remained in good health despite a series of operations.
'I kissed Abigail and then Brittany and gave them a hug. 'From the first time we saw them, we thought they were beautiful. 'The paediatrician said my babies were together but they had two heads,' she recalled in 2006. Patty had no idea she was carrying twins until the birth at the local hospital where she worked They would each have just one arm and one leg and be confined to a wheelchair. Yet Patty, 46 and Mike, 47, never once considered having the twins separated, through fear that one or both might die or be left with such severe disabilities their quality of life would be compromised and could no longer enjoy all the activities they love. It is rare for twins conjoined the way that Abby and Brittany are to survive into adulthood, but despite this they are in good health, without heart defects or organ failure. While they were born with three arms, one was removed surgically.Īlthough Brittany - the left twin - can't feel anything on the right side of the body and Abigail - the right twin - can't feel anything on her left, instinctively their limbs move as if co-ordinated by one person, even when typing e-mails on the computer. They have two spines (which join at the pelvis), two hearts, two oesophagi, two stomachs, three kidneys, two gall bladders, four lungs (two of which are joined), one liver, one ribcage, a shared circulatory system and partially shared nervous systems.įrom the waist down, all organs, including the intestine, bladder and reproductive organs, are shared.
The Hensel girls are the rarest form of conjoined twins, the result of a single fertilised egg which failed to separate properly in the womb.
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