Inseparable Sisters: Brittany and Abby Hensel Bold Life Together

Brittany and Abby Hensel have been inseparable since birth, quite literally. The 34-year-old twins from Minnesota were born conjoined, their bodies fused together from the naval down. To the outside world, their story is one of remarkable perseverance and adaptation in the face of incredible odds. But to Brittany and Abby themselves, this is simply life as they’ve always known it – unified, empowered, and unapologetically themselves.  

The sisters’ extraordinary bond was thrust into the national spotlight in 1996 when they appeared as young girls on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Their incredible story of two minds, two hearts, and one body operating in seamless synchronicity captivated millions. From that moment on, Brittany and Abby’s lives as academic scholars, athletes, and ultimately professional women have unfolded before an audience in awe of their resilience.

Bold Response

In their bold response to the recent online fanfare around Abby’s marriage to husband Josh Bowling, the twins defiantly reminded the world that their existence transcends today’s social media frenzies. “The internet is extra LOUD today,” they captioned a TikTok video showing various ancient sculptures of conjoined twins. “We have always been around.”

Indeed, even dating back to antiquity, Brittany and Abby’s remarkable dicephalic parapagus condition – the medical term for their form of twin bodily fusion – has challenged conventional notions of human duality. With each twin possessing her own brain, heart, set of lungs, and nervous system while sharing a body below the belt, their case is endlessly fascinating to medical experts.  

“We are totally different people,” Brittany affirmed during their 2007 documentary Extraordinary People: The Twins Who Share a Body. “We usually bargain with each other, like ‘If you do this, I’ll do that’ or we take turns.”

Striving For Life

Yet for a dynamic as rare as theirs, the Hensels have strived for lives as typical young women as possible. Growing up, they participated in sports like swimming and softball, navigating opposing desires and finding compromise through constant communication. As teenagers, they went on to earn respectable academic achievements and graduated from Bethel University with degrees in education. 

While catapulted into pop culture phenomenons following the brief 2012 TLC reality series Abby & Brittany documenting their first year of teaching, the twins retreated from the public spotlight to focus on their transition to careers and adulthood beyond the speculative glare.  

“The whole world doesn’t need to know who we’re dating or what we’re gonna do and everything,” Brittany remarked in their earlier documentary Joined for Life: Abby & Brittany Turn 16. Their recent social media revival – including glimpses of married life with Josh Bowling – speaks to a new phase of embracing their extraordinary lives while maintaining boundaries.

At their cores, Brittany and Abby are trailblazers who have defied every odd while sharing an indomitable bond. Their respective brains may be distinct, but their personalities and life philosophies are inextricably aligned. “We don’t know any other way,” Abby reflected in an interview. “Being conjoined isn’t an issue for our day-to-day life. We have to coexist.”

That symbiosis extends beyond the physical. The twins demonstrate an almost spiritual level of intuitive perception toward each other’s thoughts and emotions. “I know when she’s uncomfortable, or if she’s feeling afraid or nervous,” Brittany explained. “I’ll know before she’ll say anything.”

Underpinning their inseparable existence is a foundation of unconditional love, loyalty and respect. There’s no power struggle or ego – just the unbreakable solidarity of sisterhood. “We have this bond that we share very closely that no one else can ever experience for themselves,” Abby described it. “We feel for each other in a way no one can truly understand.”

While curiosity about their condition and private lives remains insatiable, Brittany and Abby have drawn firm boundaries about what’s off-limits. Intimate romantic details, for instance, are not for public consumption. “You don’t ask a set of conjoined twins those questions,” Abby stated. “That’s our life and you have to respect that.”

What they openly share, however, is their fearless spirit, gratitude for life’s blessings, and empowering message for others facing adversity. “You’re put on this earth for some reason,” Brittany encouraged. “Take each day and find the positive. Value your worth and never set limitations.”

Abby echoed that sentiment: “There are challenges everyone has to face. Just because ours is a little different, doesn’t make it harder or less meaningful than anything else out there. We all need that inner drive.”

Brittany and Abby Hensel’s bond transcends the physical, emotional and spiritual. Theirs is a preternatural connection forged by an existence where the line between individual and inseparable blurs. Yet within that intricate duality, they’ve found their own powerful harmony – as sisters, as women, and as inspirational voices championing our shared human potential.