Who Are They?
Abigail and Brittany Hensel were born on March 7, 1990 in Minnesota in the United States. Doctors and nurses predicted that they would not last through the night, but the twins have proved them wrong with their development as healthy children.
The 22-year-olds are still conjoined now, and they are leading a perfectly normal life: learning how to drive and even travelling around Europe with their friends!
In what way are they conjoined?
The Hensel girls are the rare form of conjoined twins (parapagus).
From the waist down, all organs are shared, such as the large and small intestines, the pelvis and the reproductive organs. Other organs are also shared above the waist: the ribcage and liver. The twins also have 3 kidneys, 4 lungs(two of which are joined), a shared circulatory system and partially shared nervous systems. They were originally born with 3 arms but had one removed during an operation.
The 22-year-olds are still conjoined now, and they are leading a perfectly normal life: learning how to drive and even travelling around Europe with their friends!
In what way are they conjoined?
The Hensel girls are the rare form of conjoined twins (parapagus).
From the waist down, all organs are shared, such as the large and small intestines, the pelvis and the reproductive organs. Other organs are also shared above the waist: the ribcage and liver. The twins also have 3 kidneys, 4 lungs(two of which are joined), a shared circulatory system and partially shared nervous systems. They were originally born with 3 arms but had one removed during an operation.
How they lead their (not-so-normal) lives
Brittany - the left twin - can’t feel anything on her right, while Abigail - the right twin -can’t feel anything on her left. However, their limbs move automatically as if co-ordinated by one person!
The twins have different personalities. Abigail is the domineering one while Brittany is more reserved. However, they seldom argue and even help each other. When Brittany was sick, Abigail even volunteered to take her medicine as her sister could not swallow the pill.
Click on http://abcnews.go.com/Health/conjoined-twins-abby-brittany-hensel-astound-doctors-normalcy/story?id=17021596 for more information!
Adapted from:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2185896/Extraordinary-conjoined-twins-expected-survive-infancy-star-reality-TV-charting-graduation-travels-Europe.htmlVideo taken from Youtube (Hensel Girls 22 Years Young)
