Abby and Brittany Hensel

The twins were born in Carver County, Minnesota, to Patty, a registered nurse, and Mike Hensel, a carpenter and landscaper. They have a younger brother and sister. They were raised in New Germany, Minnesota, attended Mayer Lutheran High School, in Mayer, and graduated from Bethel University, in St. Paul, in 2012.

The twins have a single body with separate heads and necks, a chest that is wider than average, two arms, and two legs. At birth, they had a rudimentary arm between the bases of their necks attached to a shoulder blade at the back. It was removed, leaving the shoulder blade.

Abby's head tilts laterally outward about 5 degrees to the right, while Brittany's tilts laterally at about 15 degrees to the left, causing her to appear shorter even when seated. Brittany's leg is nearly two inches shorter than Abby's and Brittany tends to stand and walk on tip-toe which has made her calf muscle significantly larger than Abby's.[5] The continued growth of Abby's spine was surgically halted after Brittany prematurely stopped growing.[5] At age 12, they underwent surgery at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare to correct scoliosis and to expand their chest cavity to prevent breathing trouble.[6]

Each twin manages one side of their conjoined body. The sense of touch of each is restricted to her body half; this shades off at the midsagittal plane, so that there is a small amount of overlap at the midline. Stomach aches, however, are felt only by the twin on the opposite side.[5]

They cooperatively use their limbs when both hands or both legs are required. By coordinating their efforts, they walk, run, swim, play volleyball and the piano, and ride a bicycle normally. Together, they can type on a computer keyboard and drive a car.[7] However, Abby, at 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m), is taller and longer of leg than Brittany, who is 4 ft 10 in (1.47 m)[8] and their disparate heights caused difficulty in balancing a Segway, as shown in their 2012 reality series.[5]

Dicephalic parapagus twins rarely survive into adulthood.[10]

As teenagers the twins both passed their written and practical driver's license exams separately because, although driving requires coordination between them, state law required that they each be licensed. Abby controls the devices on the right side of the driver's seat; Brittany, those on the left. Together they control the steering wheel. They both graduated from high school in 2008 and began college at Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minnesota, majoring in education. They had considered pursuing different concentrations within that major, but the volume of extra coursework was prohibitive.[11] They each graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in 2012.[11]

Some of the twins' clothes are altered by a seamstress so that they have two separate necklines, in order to emphasize their individuality.[7] They usually have separate meals, but sometimes share a single meal for the sake of convenience. For tasks such as responding to email, they type and respond as one, anticipating each other's feelings with little verbal communication between them.[7] Their choice of grammatical person is to use "I" when they agree, and to use their names when their responses differ.

They intensely dislike being stared at or photographed by strangers while going about their private lives.[12] In interviews for the Discovery Channel in 2006 at the age of 16, they said that they hoped to date, get married, and have children. They also stated that they hoped that by providing some information about themselves, they would be able to lead otherwise fairly typical social lives.[12][13]

The two became teachers in 2013,[4] and as of 2022 they continue to teach fifth grade at Sunnyside Elementary in New Brighton, Minnesota.[1][14]

The twins appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 8 and 29, 1996. During the same month, they were featured on the cover of Life under the caption "One Body, Two Souls", and their daily lifestyle was described in the article, "The Hensels' Summer".[15] Life followed up with another story in September 1998. In 2002, they appeared in Joined for Life, a TV documentary by Advanced Medical Productions, distributed on the Discovery Health Channel[16] and a 2003 follow-up, Joined at Birth.[17]

In 2003, an updated story of them at age 11 (filmed in 2001) was published in Time and again in Life. ABC TV also did a documentary called "Joined for Life".[18][19] A UK television special in 2005 was part of the series Extraordinary People.[20] In 2006, Advanced Medical made another documentary, Joined for Life: Abby & Brittany turn 16,[21] that discusses their adolescence, school, social life, and activities such as getting their driver's licenses.[9]

The twins starred in the TLC reality TV show Abby & Brittany that was shown in the US from August to October 2012[2] It was shown by the BBC in the UK in April and May 2013 and covers the period from their finishing college to starting a part-time teaching job.[4]

Documentaries and other television appearances include:

• Abby Hensel at IMDb
• Brittany Hensel at IMDb