A set of twins who share the same body have celebrated their 18th birthday in the United States. Abigail and Brittany Hensel from Minnesota ... have two hearts, and two spinal chords, but share the same torso have lived their lives side by side.
The teens who enjoy swimming, playing the piano and recently got their drivers' licenses said they had no intention of being separated.
The girls have beaten the odds and doctors' expectations to reach their milestone. It is believed there are only four sets of twins who share the same torso and have survived into adulthood. And they are on track to graduate from university, and hope to have a family of their own one day.
"We want to be mums, but haven’t thought how it would work," Abigail said. The girls passed their driving exams with two separate licenses and two separate tests. Abigail worked the pedals, and Brittany used the indicators and they both held the steering wheel.
Their parents, nurse Patty, and carpenter Mike 48, decided not to have the twins separated at birth despite the risks. "From the first time we saw them we thought they were beautiful," she told the Sunday Mirror. -telegraph
Like many twins they have very different personalities and tastes - even more so now they are teenagers. Abigail, the feisty, stubborn one, likes orange juice for breakfast while Brittany, the joker of the family, will touch only milk.
Abigail loves pink and all things girly but Brittany prefers purple, multi-coloured hair and wearing unusual hats, and now they have turned 16 they love to experiment with makeup and clothes and giggle about which boys they like.
But that is where the similarity with other teenage twins end. For Abigail and Brittany Hensel are conjoined, sharing one body fused at the torso. Each controls just one side of the body, and yet remarkably this has not prevented them leading a full, active and happy life.
Displaying an astonishing co- ordination which has stunned doctors, they play the piano -with Abigail taking the right-hand parts and Brittany the left - and enjoy sports such as bowling, volleyball, cycling, softball and swimming.
And on their 16th birthday they passed their driving test; a mind-boggling feat of teamwork with each twin using one arm to control the steering wheel. Brittany explains: 'Abby does the pedals and the gear shifter. I take over the blinkers and the lights. But she likes driving faster than me.' - dailymail
Two headed conjoined twins Abigail Loraine Hensel and Britanny Lee Hensel had a short documentary about their lives on The Learning Channel. It is not easy to be born sharing a single body with your other twin and they are incredible that they had tried their best in leading a normal life. Here are some photos of the Hensel twins which peers into some of the moments in their lives.Photo source here. Photographer unknown.
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But the girls are more than curiosities. Their smiling faces and apparent good health seem a rebuke to the current medical trend of trying to separate, via surgery, ever more complexly conjoined twins--a trend that often means sacrificing one child so the other can live "normally." And their tale of lives unpunctuated by solitude has much to teach all of us about the real meaning of individuality and the limitless power of human cooperation.
Conjoined twins are a rare event in the world's delivery rooms. They occur about once in every 50,000 births, but 40% are stillborn, and, curiously, 70% are female. Conjoined twins are always identical: the product of a single egg that for some unknown reason failed to divide fully into separate twins during the first three weeks of gestation. In the U.S. there are perhaps 40 live cases each year; ordinary identical twins are 400 times as common. - timehensel twins 5 life photo at the pool
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I ran into them recently in Grand Marais, MN. It was the most amazing. They bounced out of their van with several other kids, laughing, bouncing, talking, and just having a ball. They were obviously accepted as [one] of the group. They must have outstanding parents. I feel honored to have witnessed their lives.
Posted by: Dick Moore on May 17, 2004
294 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 294 of 294OK, here is the deal! As far as marraige: yes polygamy is illegal. In America however, enforcement of certain laws is usually up to the particular jurstictions. I am sure if they decide to marry one person, that the jurisdiction that they are in would have enough heart not to prosecute them for polygamy! Likewise, I doubt any Federal Agency would waste the effort to do so, and come out looking like a bunch of heartless assholes. Pardon the word, but any person with common sense could come to this conclusion.
If, by chance, they decide to marry two seperate people, then obviously arrangements will have to be made. Regardless of which one feels it or don't, this is a real give and take relationship, and I am sure that the other has already come to grips with this issue, that they will have to share the body, after all, they have been sharing it their entire lives. They seem to really love each other, and I am sure that they will get along fine.
Now husband jealousy issues are something I am not going to touch, because obviously these girls aren't going to marry anyone that is not understanding!
Children: My guess is as good as any on this, I would say DNA, but they have the same DNA, so I would settle it this way: If they marry two seperate men, then whichever is the father of the baby, well, the mother would be the one that is his wife. If they marry the same man, then you list them both as the mother. I don't know, perhaps they both have seperate eggs, then you just go invitro with the whole thing, and you already know which ones eggs it was.
I am getting lost in this speach because I can't believe some of the ignorant comments, however, my point is no matter what they have to have a loving and understanding relationship, and maybe it is time everyone else quits asking these questions, time will answer all.
actually it is none of your business, but that apart they should both feel the sensation as they said themselves that the "border" between their bodies (indeed there are two bodies, just conjoined) is nearly in the middle. i remember their mother telling that they do playfully touch their bellies along the middle line telling when one twin's sensation fades and the other's starts. so hopefully they are both having partial feeling in their sexual organs, too.
@digi
DNA result?? they are IDENTICAL twins with identical chromosomes, so of course the result is going to be that any child of them will be matching their DNA as well as the father's. maybe you better shouldn't have slept at school ;)
dammit, is it the american school system? again, the girls are IDENTICAL twins with identical chromosomes, so no proof needed, they will both be the birth- AND genetic mothers. phew, idiots..
they are teenagers! would you have talked about your sexual preferences or desires with the mere age of 16 in front of a cam with all your mates and family watching? sic.
if they do share a vaginal sensations, intercourse would be experienced by both of them, covered or not. kids would be carried by both of them and given birth to by both of them, the kids will have both their chromosomes (as they're identical twins!!). so they would clearly have to choose a man or men, who both of the girls like, as they will be both having sex and kids with him or them.
for all the stupid assumptions about how to find out the mother of future children: they are IDENTICAL twins! people, have you never had genetics at school? it's not possible to find out the genetical parent of a kid born by a identical twin, unless you check, who gave birth to it, which - in this case will be both of the girls, too. so ladies, if your husband is an identical twin (conjoined or not), go ahead and cheat him with his twin brother - no DNA test will find out, who's the father of the kid.
I am ..an identical twin; And, in my opinion, the questions regarding the girls' sexuality are, for the most part, repugnantly salacious and/or juvenile.
What one should ponder instead is their intensely close and deeply loving relationship! Because it is only after coming to an adequate level of understanding of that relationship that one can begin to ask such questions without temerity.
These two beautiful girls, as most conjoined twins, depend upon each other in ways singular persons can never fully appreciate or even pretend to understand!
Being conjoined may appear to those who are not as being "scary", a "curiousity", a "nightmare" or worse, but it is actually something incredibly different, and something uniquely and virtuously special.
Maybe one way to get "normal" people to think about, and perhaps then gain a little perspective on, the ..integral.. reality of being conjoined (so they might then be able to ask rational questions with the deserved amount of empathy!) is to have them imagine, with all seriousness, that they and they're brother (or sister) cannot live without the other, ie; if one of them dies then the other will inexorably die because of that.
If one contemplates the bonds of Love conjoined people have for each other well enough first I think these questions about their "relationships" with "normal" people will have been already satisfactorily answered.
well i know...men r a whole lot different then women... they think with the 1 head...no brain!!...n in this situation there r 2 brains... not just heads.... i wouldnt expect a man 2 know squat BOUT THAT!!
The idea that they would/should have separate husbands is absurd. That would simply mean that they are sharing 2 guys instead of just 1. That's perverse. Plus, you can't count out the guy's point of view. What guy would go along with that ridiculous arrangement: Not only having another guy constantly around (even in bed) but also he is regularly having sex with YOUR WIFE! Only a very desperate man would agree to this. I'm sure any girl would prefer 1 stud over 2 duds. They share a body, a life, and they will be much happier sharing a man too. A very lucky man...
The parents must be quite a pare. They either sought no pre-natal care or are extreme right to lifers. Either way their inaction has caused the unfathomable suffering of two trapped spiritual beings.
Oooooh Lori yuo r so biatchy!
We are curious beings, without curiousity we would learn little, it's unreasonable to expect people to look away from others who are different. Politeness goes only so far. The twins have mouths if they find it offensive I'm sure they'd make it known.
As for the sex thing - it is a very interesting topic but I doubt us lesser beings with only one brain will ever know the truth. One thing I'm willing to bet is that if they are both vocal during sex their partner(s) will need earplugs :).
PS The intentional spelling errors are just for you Lori.
Better watch out for that Lori person...
Disabled and different people are just part of the glorious spectrum of humanity and as long as the condition from which they suffer isn't too painful (for parents as well as children) then termination should be the very last option to consider.
And before all you naysayers and do-gooders start - I gave birth to a disabled daughter so - stop, think and walk a mile in my shoes before you judge.
Actually I thought it was the great apes we were related to - monkeys are a whole other barrel of fish...
So - James - what does it feel like when you have sex - do you get excited or just lie there? How about you Xeno - are you a bit odd?
Of course I'm not being rude, just curious.
brittney i love the same classes you do i'm 10 years old and i think you and abby are awesome
We are related to monkeys, mollusks, mushrooms, mistletoe ... there are many branches in the evolutionary tree but as far as we know, they all started from the same seed. For humans to not be related to some form of life on earth, there would need to be two or more separate events that caused life to begin. Possible, but I haven't heard of anyone who believes that.
Alison,
A bit odd? Everyone is. Lighten up. Be yourself. One of the most amazing gifts we are given is that there are new discoveries to be made about our bodies throughout our lives. Stay healthy and keep learning.
I am a twin and I am saddened to see so many comments on sexuality and reproduction being thrust upon these two very separate young ladies. If anyone of you want to get a concept on any of these matters, just go and tie yourself to somebody who you have no choice about and start living your lives together and recording your daily affairs and activities for the rest of your natural lives together. Dodge the cameras and weirdos who are constantly in your face with the same questions and comments over and over again. Record how often you go to sleep with a damp pillow under your head from crying because of the constant press of yerks out there who are so full of themselves and the vanities of their own boring lives. Abby and Brittany have plenty of true friends out there to share their sweet private thoughts with, and they don't need 75% of the creeps who post on this blog to be ever bothering them with their stupidity, rudeness, and sick imaginations full of pervervness. I appauld them and their familys and wish them long and happy lives together, and the less people out there know about them, the better things will be. God loves them,and their family and friends love them. What more do they need? Get a life folks.
What have you been smoking¿ Unfathomable suffering? It's rare for such a case to survive a long time, but those girls are healthy and happy.
You know.. they could turn out to be lesbians. Marriage problem solved. Hey, they are close enough to each other they could actually make out. A lot of sibling kids "experiment" so I would think this could be possible. More interestingly they would really know what the other is feeling in a profound way.
Seriously though the things I wanna know are: Which one of them controls what motor functions? Can they each control all limbs separately? If not, does one have to wake the other up (if asleep) before they can walk? Do they fight about which way to go? Does each one consider the body "theirs" and at times resents the other invading? What if one personality wants something done to the body the other personality doesn't like like a piercing or tattoo? There are so many i can think of i won't even try to ask them all here.
No, I am not conjoined, nor am I angry, but I am indeed saddened to see these young women constantly approached and their privacy constantly invaded with the same questions over and over again. Some of the questions asked are good questions, especially those which deal with the mental adjustments which come from their being conjoined. They will never enjoy a private moment apart from each other, hardly counting the times when one is asleep and the other awake. It just that many young men are rude in how they approach these girls, and surely they are sick of dealing with the crude remarks and questions. I have been following the Hensel twins for about 14 years now and I find them just beautiful in every way and acceptable. They have done very well for themselves and I am proud of them and their family and friends. I have no ill feelings really for those who do accost them aside from sincere pity for their ignorance and selfishness and sick comments which stem from the lower nature. I know nothing about the Principles of Maat, but I do believe in treating all mankind kindly and with respect, and treating people in the same way that I would desire to be treated in return, commanly called the Golden Rule. Everyone reaps what they have sown, and there is no escaping that divine principle, and the Hensel twins have been superb in how they have treated these nosey and rude posters. Thank you for your kind response.
I think these girls are wonderful and i fully understand how they would like to be treated normally. i actually just saw the 16th birthday on TV and they really seem normal and i just wanted to say its great that they are doing everything regular and just being themselves. i myself live in MN and in a small town and i was just wondering if they have had any luck with going/submitting to collage. i wish them luck!!!
I love Brittany and Abby.I love her and when we get married just me and she Abby an Britt.im not sharing her with no outher Guy.She is one beautiful Lady with two brains and Minds.everythings 50/50 attention kisses we just take turns.except when one needs a lil more emo support.i b a lil overprotective so we harvest egg and in vitro to surrogate for our baby.i love love love her >3 xd:)...mi Bellaza n mi amor preciosa Forever in my heart my Love For Her!Kisses moochos.
Very usefull infomaction. Thank you.
Keep it up
Ok , can we just work with the facts.
First of all whoever that was that was telling someone off about harbouring contempt toward Christians and saying that that was contradictory with them spouting legalities .
Um hello ! ... guess you never heard of the SEPARATION between Church & state ..
Yes , it is all an invasion of privacy of the girls but it's not as though they're the only ones to deal with this . Do any of you go out and buy commercial magazines ? You're funding and fueling the invasion of privacy of all those people featured in the magazines . And NO , they did not sign up for it by being in or connected with the entertainment industry . They signed up to participate in a film/video/audio clip to entertain you . Not to have people follow them home after the recording is over.
People are paid to spin stories about Ciara really being a man and Jessica Biel having her lips puffed up .
Those aren't facts.
That these twin girls share reproductive organs IS a FACT. So the questions about whose child it will be are valid and necessary for the future.
It will biologically belong to both of them . Legally , I am not well enough versed to provide an answer about that .
They are only separate girls till the navel .
Deal with it , move on.
how do you stay the same weight if you are eating twice as much food?
Tough break for the girls! Nature can be cruel. But, doctors should have removed the one head at birth, and let one of the girls have a normal life! Imagine what it is like to be them! It would be better to be one whole person than two half people.
Mik Ahren, I do not mean to embarrass you, but removing the one head would have killed the both of them, as in that one head was that one mind which controlled the nervous system (The electrical wiring) which controlled all the bodily functions of that one half body which would have been controlled by that one head. Also in reference to this as well comes the control to one of the hearts and other necessary body organs located and connected to that one head as well. The other remaining body would have had such a stress put upon it from having to take up the whole load of the work in providing the circulation of the blood and also losing half of the control of the other necessary glands which counteract healing and defenses from infection and disease, and control timely release of everything which keeps them a well maintained human body. If one would simply think it through first, and then post your remarks, one could save alot of embarrassment. I am not even a doctor, and I was able to reason this out real simple. They are two completely separate human beings, dependent and independent of each other for survival. They share everything perfectly. We should learn from them. With Eng and Chang of the original Siamese twins fame, as soon as one of the brothers died from natural causes, the other one died very soon afterward, and they actually shared hardly anything between them. Surgically altering of the Hensel twins, in my opinion would have been the demise of the both of them. Their parents made the most wise choice, and because of it, we will be able to know and love this set of twins for a very, very long time now.
Personally I don't think anything just slips through the Hands of God unintended. He allows effects to come to all of the causes out there, including unexplained ones as well. Perhaps the twins differances was allowed as a test for those out there who would have been involved with their care, and upbringing, and if that was the case, I would say that they have honored the Great God and Creator of us all. They are sweet and normal girls in every way that you look at them. God loves them, and has a plan for both of their lives. Their private affairs involving their Male/female relations should remain just that ... Private. They are now both over 18 years old, and can decide their own matters themselves. Nothing is going to change humanities sick imaginations about the private concerns of these two young women. They are adults, and surely well seasoned by now to handle the worst thrown at them by the masses. God doesn't make mistakes, and he allows for the mistakeful thinking of men and women who are not too open to all of the challenges that present themselves to humanity. People do have a right to express themselves and to ask their questions. But they could do it in more tasteful manners as I have seen some express themselves on here.
I think these girls are beautiful. i would love to have someone with me we i needed them. their life is probably hard sometimes, but they seem perfectly happy. May God bless them and hope they live to be 100 or more.
dont blame me if i misspell, im 12
I am a friend of the girls. I think they are enjoying their celebrity attention, but at the same time, it makes them very unconfortable to be stared at and hear people ask all sorts of embarrasing questions and make rude comments. They just want to be treated like normal human beings.
Be respectful and friendly and they will respond in a positive way to you.
Be kind to them. They are wonderful, beautiful people and they have a very bright future.
One thing about them is that they are quite intelligent and they wouldn't date someone like you, who spells like a child and makes up crazy stuff like that.
They are not lesbians. It may be difficult for you to understand, but they are perfectly normal in every important way.
i agree with michelle about being 1 woman actually... coz thers only 1 vagina/womb so would it mean 1 woman and 1 un sex? lol
i want to know, if one wakes up in the morning does the other one instantly wake up or do they have to fight the other to wake up.... its just a question so please do not get upset..
Ok, now without having a hissy-fit I would very much appreciate it if someone could answer this curiosity for me:
This is a case of twins conjoined at the torso, got that, from idk say about the bellybutton up they "control" their own side, got that as well. What I'm wondering is that since from the bellybutton down they are "one" per se, how does walking work? Do they both have to want to walk, or does one control that, or say if one wanted to walk and the didn't would they move or how's the deal?
I would like to re-iterate that this is a simple curiosity not an attack! I've read comments above and I find it quite amusing how some people's panties are getting in a bunch so easily over such simple questions. Why is it that we can ask a million about "regular" human systems to the point of being invasive, but with cases like the above we have no right ask?? We're all human are we not? Thanks in advance to whoever can answer this for me, fabulous day to all :)
I think concerning marriage, they can (and should) maryy one man, for the reproductive result of marrying two men will be having intercourse in the same vagina, this is odd. Being two women married to one man has an equivalent in Islam religion when one man can legally marry two women. I just want to ask if there is a case record of a male conjoined twins, as the other living conjoint twin (Lori and Reba) are also females?
I think they can marry one man, for if they married two men, then both men will be having intercourse in the same vagina and a pregnancy that would result will be in the same womb, I find this odd. If they both married one man, then we have a variety of this (in Islam religion) when a man can legally marry two women. If they have two separate bodies on lateral sides, then it would be presumed that each of them own one ovary. If a contraception is used, and fertilisation achieved by IVF and ovum retrieval, then the side of the ovary from which an egg was driven can be considered the mother of the baby. For another baby, then an ovum would be taken from the other ovary to enable the other twin to mother the child. The father stays the same.
I'm french. It's a good blog ;)
This is my first post and i have to do it in response to all the previously posted comments.
It seems that everyone agrees that the girls are wonderful, inspiring, beautiful etc, etc.
Now in Australia, we are a broad minded people who will find humour & curiosity on any topic, regardless whether it may be considered taboo, insensitive or politically incorrect. It is not done with any malicious intent nor a desire to upset or offend.
These girls are entitled to their privacy and rightly so. Most people do not wish to discuss their sex lives or their indulgence in any manner of paraphillia with the public in general.
With all due respect, this does not preclude the curious, bizzare & what some may consider to be poor taste questions, scenarios & hypotheticals being asked.
So good on you all who have asked any of the questions that do come to mind. We may not know the truth, but it is the resultant conjecture that comes from such things that help us make light and deal with these difficult topics. And in saying this, a group of us discussed the following.
As they share bottom organs, it is safe to assume they share an anal passage. Does one or both parties feel a sensation there.
What happens if one likes [a particular kind of sex] (gasp) and one doesn't??
What happens if one comes out and admits to being gay??? Can you consummate a marriage??
These are simply hypotheticals which does not require an intrusion on the girls privacy. I would also hazard a guess that very few of the people who have so far posted to this thread have not at some stage wondered about the possible sexual peccadilloes of another.
thankyou all
All this talk about the twins sex life and procreating. Come on now there are more important things Im sure they are thinking about now in their young adulthood, such as attending college in the direction of their independent futures. The girls have come thus far as two persons with their own free will and minds. They have done just fine. Also I am sure by knowing their situation they have laid in bed at night in the privacy of the darkness and talked about what they will do regarding their PRIVATE lives. These girls are Gods gift to us to love and enjoy as the people they are and we should not be the curiousfreak show visitor. We should only see them as they are and thats 2 different young ladies with great personalities and love for life. By the way...... Its not so bad to go through life WITHOUT a husband and children as I have done, which I have enjoyed every minute of my life. There really is more out there than to just get married and "procreate". God Bless those girls with a full and happy life!
This web site is really quite sophisticated, but for some reason it does not display properly when trying to view on my Nintendo Wii. If it helps, the console uses the Opera web browser and am impelled to using the console for accessing the Net whilst my PC is away being restored.
How about playing guitar and singing? I imagine they could make the most amazing music... Harmonies? Lovely people.
Actually, you are in error. Jesus never talks of evolution nor does the Bible itself. Believing in a literal interpretation of the book we call Genesis is only one interpretation. Jesus himself doesn't weigh in on the subject. Therefore, a person can be a true Christian and also believe in evolution.
Xeno, I'm with you except I probably am a bit more extreme in my views. Richard Dawkins is my hero and I'm currently reading his book "The God Delusion." I truly believe susceptibility to religion is a mental illness/defect that has a genetic basis. I refuse to engage in "debate" with religious people about it, however, because there really is no debate. They simply believe what they believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, and provide nothing to back up their claims other than "faith", which is nothing more than a belief or feeling. "...what we are talking about: feelings or truth. Both may be important, but they are not the same thing." That's all I'm going to say on that.
Yes, there is much about science and biology we do not understand. In one of your comments, you mentioned how there is a gap in knowledge in terms of how these girls function biologically. I agree and I think that most of what we do not know or understand about the human body lies in the brain. You know when you get that weird feeling that someone is looking at you and you look around and someone IS looking at you? Or those other types of hyper-sensory "feelings" one gets in certain situations- I believe it all has a biological basis and it's our brains working in ways we do not yet understand. I think the idea that these girls function with some kind of intuitive sense of each other is amazing. It's really difficult to describe since we don't have the words and principals to use yet, but for example, when they clap or work together to catch something without verbally communication. There is something going on there that we can't explain.
The fact that they have two separate brains but can communicate non-verbally in such a way as to coordinate a single movement or combined effort is amazing. If one is asleep, can the other still walk? If one is blindfolded, can they catch something? It's all fascinating!
They are two different people living in the same body. If one sister eats the other sister receives nourishment. They have 2 hearts pumping but one circulatory system, they each have a lung of their own and one shared lung, basically they have a body built to accommodate the needs of two people sharing a body in a efficient manner. Two people one body.
Thus said, marriage should depend on the twins own decision of marriage and whether it is to a body or mind. Also any child would be a child would belong to both since they share the same DNA, blood and reproductive system. They both would experience the pregnancy and so would both probably have a maternal attachment to the child.
AMEN TO
essie said on Abigail and Brittany Hensel: My favorite conjoined twins.
April 10, 2008 at 4:32 am
They are two different people living in the same body. If one sister eats the other sister receives nourishment. They have 2 hearts pumping but one circulatory system, they each have a lung of their own and one shared lung, basically they have a body built to accommodate the needs of two people sharing a body in a efficient manner. Two people one body.
Thus said, marriage should depend on the twins own decision of marriage and whether it is to a body or mind. Also any child would be a child would belong to both since they share the same DNA, blood and reproductive system. They both would experience the pregnancy and so would both probably have a maternal attachment to the child.
Since they have shown both a marked difference in tastes and a splendid ability to figure out how to manage their lives, I would expect one of them to marry a man she falls in love with, and the other to marry a man she falls in love with. They are two separate entities, just conjoined so as to take up the same space. They have separate drivers licenses and I would expect they will end up with separate marriage licenses too.
Great info. Tweeted about it. I'll bookmark this post too.
Ever heard the saying "two heads are better than one"?
Well.. when it comes to decision making.. they have the ablility
to have two sets of reasoning put into each decision. I think there
are all kinds of interesting psychologically based considerations
that many of us would never think about when it comes to all kinds
of thought processes they go through on a daily basis.
What if one is more inclined to be shy or have anxiety than the other one.
I bet the stronger personality takes up for the other one at times when she
knows the other is anxious or shy.. one concern to me would be
how sometimes it is nice to have all by
yourself time.. which can never really be done unless one is asleep while the
other is awake.. still not ever all alone.. but able to have the feeling of
being alone. What if one wants to do something the other is very against. They
just have to make allowances. It probably has taught them a level of patience
and tolerance that most people never learn. I bet there are many little things
each day that they have to handle differently that none of us think about ever
existing. They should write a book or keep a journal or diary for years of things
that might interest people and then combine all the years of information and share it
with people. Just the little thoughts and things they notice from their perspective.
I bet there are a million things they come up with that people would be intrigued by.
They seem funny and happy typical silly fun loving like any other normal teens. Of course
they have serious considerations about things involving them sharing one body. What if one
is more comfy in girly dresses and the other likes tom boy pants most of the time. They
again would have to learn the give and take lessons that some people never learn. One gets
to decide one day and the other another day on how they get to dress or whatever.
they can do each others hair and always have each other to visit with. I see all kinds of
really neat things that would make their lives more enriched than most peoples lives. Yes
the public can be very cruel. I am sure that they probably have pretty thick skin when it comes to dealing with people who are so uncomfortable with their difference that they dont know how to react and instead say dumb stuff or stare. They probably have incredible senses
of humor due to that fact. I wish the best for them. They are very lucky to have both been able to live. I only wish them the very best of everything.
Technically, they each have their own ovary. It's not just one reproductive system, it's Abby's half joined with Brittany's half. So they're not just "one woman" because they share a reproductive system...
By the way, it is impossible for a male and female two be conjoined twins. When the egg splits, it's one gender or the other, not both. Male and female twins are 2 eggs ovulating at the same time, and can not conjoin.
It it would happen, the original egg would have to be a hermaphrodite.
In some extremely rare cases, due to aneuploidy (wrong number of chromosomes), monozygotic twins (from one egg) may express different sexual phenotypes (male and female). It would be even more rare for such twins to be conjoined, but why do you say it would be impossible?
Writing fail. Trying waaaay too hard. Not to mention, has nothing to do with the discussion.
But what is the point? How do they harvest IP addresses by posting? I don't get it. Is it only if someone clicks on the link? I didn't even notice a link- not that I would have clicked on it anyway. What do they do with an IP address anyway? I can't stand spam and I've never understood why it is so prolific.
Wow, you people have alot of time on your hands. I have been following the girls since birth and find it amazing that they have not only survived but thrived in this world. For whatever reason, they are how there are and are HAPPY! Would that us "single" humans could be such.
As to the question of God and whether He caused this to happen or merely allowed it - we will not know until we get to heaven and ca ask Him - are you going?
Hi, I don't know if it's just me or anyone else thinking the same thing...
I really amazed and shocked by this situation, and I just so damn confuse why would God let such thing happens?
I started to think maybe God doesn't control everything completely. I mean, there is God and he did created existence, but He just simply doesn't control every detail thing in world. I mean maybe God just like a kid with an ant farm. He simply created the farm, bought the ants, but can't control the ants.
If he controls everything in detail, why would such thing happens?
As for the twins, you are amazing... have a long and happy life...
Maybe because there is no such thing as god. The reason it doesn't make sense to you is because you are trying to understand things through an idea that god exists. Science can explain why it happened. It's rare, but it's perfectly explicable scientifically. Nothing will make sense if you try to explain things through "god" because it defies all logic and reality. If you want to understand the world, you have to live in reality and learn about fact-based, evidenced-based principles and knowledge. If you believe in a god, you will have to keep believing in crazier and crazier things in order to make the world make sense so I recommend going in the other direction and questioning why you think there is a god to begin with. And just because science may not have all the answers to things like how everything came into existence and life began, doesn't mean we get to "fill in the blanks" with crazy shit that makes NO sense whatsoever. It's perfectly ok to not know the answers to everything and to be open to other possibilities. Science will always evolve and change. Religion won't.
i saw the video of them- their siblings don't seem very happy. the twins always get all the attention, and everyone gives them whatever they want because they're different... but their siblings are just more normal people. they don't really smile...
All those ppl saying they should share one husband are crazy.
This article clearly displays that they have different tastes in many matters, puting them with a man that one likes and the other doesn't would be endlessly cruel, as would some sort of "compromise" would be.
And besides, two girls, more over, SISTERS sharing the same bofriend?
That would cause impossible jealousy.
What are reproductive Organs exept simple tools that can be used to provide the person you love with pleasure and to produce children with them? They're just flesh, the Identity is in the brain.
The sisters' genes are exactly the same anyway, so a possible solution could be test their children for their fathers, and whose boyfriend is the father could be declared the mother.
Their brains are separate, and that's where the mind and the emotions - and the capacity to love - are, after all.
Like all young girls, they probably won't marry the first person they date, so they will probably not allways have boyfriends at the same times.
and if they ever should both get married, they could do it like some other pair of conjoined twins who took turns between the homes of their wives. (cant remember their names right now)
They have managed to get around all major problems so far, so why shouldn't they manage this one?
Anyway, we should stop talking about them like they're lab specimen.
I just wish that they will have a long life and find some nice boyfriends that will take them seriously. That they are fairly attractive despite their condition might help.
There was never a chance of one of them becoming a "whole person" as in a person with four limbs. They're not just a person with two heads - essentially, each of them has only one hand and one leg and lack the other ones, plus some complete and some incomplete internal Organs that just happen to be 'glued together' with the "matching" parts on their Sister's Body. hard to believe when you see how they walk and do complex movements, but they can't feel a single thing in their Sister's side of the Body.
I've read somewhere that they wouldn't want to be separated even if it was possible- they are just too severely fused. Even if you would separate them, each would have only one arm and leg, they would be wheelchair-bound and unable to have any kids. They seem to be doing relatively fine as they are, and from what I've seen of them so far, they both have strong, optimistic personalities. You can tell by those little quirks they have. And each of them has different ones.
And even if what you said was possible - why kill one of them if both are apparently living fullfilled lives?
a) The parent's didn't know untill the ppl at the hospital pulled the girls heads out and
b) You should read this article before you comment on it. The whole article is about how they are NOT unhappy, and in fact, very well-adjusted, with their individuality more developed than in many non-conjoined identical twins. I don't know them personally, but on all the photos of them, I see two happy-looking, attractive, self-assured young girls.
c) Where did your soul go? No one whith at least half a heart would kill their children if there is even the slightes chance that they survive. Every life has ended once so far, wether we die old gray and wrinkly, or even before we leave the safety of the womb, our lifespans are puny. If I would ever become pregnant with conjoined twins, I would rather let them have all the time and happiness they can have, be it a long, fulfiled life, or just not being aborted before being able to dream ( because olders fetuses DO dream - you can tell from their brainwaves), than staining my haind with their blood.
All humans suffer, all humans will die someday. But should we murder them because they MIGHT die from natural causes?
Should be rob them of ever knowing what emotions are, because they MIGHT be unhappy?
You abortion- promoters always talk about "choices", and how you won't let yourselves be controlled by the catholic church (which I am NOT a member of), and yet, you're arrogant enough to believe that you can decide wether a whole human mind, a small reflexion of the universe,the most precious thing in existence, is worth existing.
That is, in my opinion, for my Children themselves to decide.
If they ever hate me for letting them decide, they can always take revenge on me by commiting suicide.
I can't even beginn to imagine what these girls must be feeling with people accusing their parents for not aborting them... It's a good thing that they seem to have strong personalities.
They wouldn't cheat on their husbands, as one wouldn't have the emotional attachment to the other. Emotions and identity are in the brains, and each of them has their own brain.
think of how sick it would be to share a partner with a same-sex sibling (or a oposite-sex sibling one if you're gay/bi)
you would contantly have to be jealous!
As long as they're emotionally attached to only one man, I don't see any problems. sex organs are just a pile of cells, what gives them meaning is the human mind.
If you think about it, sex organs are just "in built" tools that happen to give you the ability to produce children and provide the person you love with pleasure.
What makes them different fromother tools that fullfill other functions is that they can only be used by the person they're attached to, but in this case...
I'm not saying it's the same as sharing a hammer, but honestly.
No one objects about them using their shared intestine to absorb nutrients.
Well, there was one case of conjoined twins (Mary and... something with B? The other woman had a longer name for sure... *does not have a good mamory for names*) that were far less severely fused than the Hensel twins, and one got cancer. The other was unaffected a first, but as cancer is a particulary nasty type of cancer, which spread over the bloodstream, the other sister got it, too after a while.
There have been various cases in which one twin got sick and died; (I recall a particulary tragic story with two indian little girls... they seemed so full of life in the photo :( ) The other always followed within minutes, even if she has been originally unaffected by the disease.
How would you feel if for some accident (god protects you!! of course) you loose your legs, torso, and arms? It'll be pretty fucked up right?, you would probably want to just die anyways. Now imagine a little worst, your partner for life, since been born the one who eats with you, sleeps with you, use the bathroom with you, have sex next to you, does every single fucking thing with you; for some reason wont be there anymore.. I'm preety sure even if the one left could still alive by removing the other ones head (I KNOW THIS TALK IS OUT OF CONTEXT AND MIGH NOT BE MY FUKING BUSSINES, BUT WHEN SOMEBODY ASK A OPEN QUESTION I LIKE TO GIVE IT A TRY TO ANSWER, SORRY IF IT'S TOO, [WAY TOO] MEAN, BAD OF ME TO WRITE, I APOLOGIZE SPECIALLY TO THE GIRLS Abigail and Britney Hensel AND WISH YOU THE BEST AT ALL TIMES BY THE WAY)she wouldn't want to live, because what kind of life could that be, it would be like lossing your soul, a feeling of emptiness and that's all, I couln't imagine it but I try and it just wouldn't make no sence.
P.S. sorry for the bad spelling, still studing to get it better and I dont really like to correct it always when I bloging so don't judge people, I already do a lot correcting all my homework ;-P
FROM SEAN HAIGH "HULL ENGLAND" HERE'S A GREAT BIG KISS XX FOR THE TWO OF YOU.
I WISH I HAD TWO DAUGHTERS WHOOSE CHARACHTER WAS JUST LIKE BOTH OF YOUR'S, I KNOW I WOULD NOT COMPLAIN.
I don't have time to read through all the comments, so my apologies if this has been addressed already.
Brittany and Abigail are two people. As far as genetics go: they're one individual. Seriously, all of you who're talking about DNA - do you not know that conjoined twins are identical twins? Their DNA is identical. They will be aunts and mothers to their kids, simultaneously. Whether they marry one guy or two, there will be interesting interpersonal 'jealousy' issues involved - but I'm guessing whoever they end up with will be pretty great - he (they) would have to be.
mmm? I am a spanishboy I am live in juarez city in chihuahua mexico near to el paso texas sorry for my bad words in english i think Abby and Brittany they are a beautifuls girls in one body God Bless you Abby and Brittany are a goods liders for the us some times I have everything in my body and not presius my body not say thanks God for my family or my body you Brittany and Abby are a motivations for try to be a gods persons congratulations! Abby and Brittan you are incredibles girls ! its real its honest my opinion thank you Brittany and Abby! you are a beautifuls girls! and beautifuls faces! Brittany and Abby! God Bless You BrittandAbby!!!! so much!!!!!
@ Lalachic: A "joint degree" is when someone takes multiple majors; any (one) person can take a joint degree. I'm not saying they are one person, but they obviously would have to take the same classes, study together, and be tested together; it's unavoidable. I think Charlie meant that they would have to get both degrees so that they both have the information -from both degrees- to make a good, educated decision.
Also, as *identical* twins, they actually are genetically identical despite being two separate people; genetically, which twin provides the egg that gets fertilized in a pregnancy does not matter (moral/ethical/legal importance is obviously not so clear-cut).
I'm sure that, if and when they decide to get married, have children, etc, they will work it out with each other and probably get any legal exceptions necessary to allow them to be happy with the 1 man or 2 men they love, and, unfortunately for them, it will probably be highly publicized. It's really not the public's business, but it's only natural to be curious about such things when confronted with such a story.
Just something to think about: I have known 2 identical twins (not conjoined) who were dating the same guy at the same time and each of the 3 people in the relationship were aware of and okay with this. I heard they had different kissing styles :)
They have 2 souls, and 2 souls cannot marry 1 man with 1 soul.
They have two soles, as would one man. Two men would have four soles. Only they have walked a mile in their shoes, therefore, only they can choose.
Imagine , Your pump one vagina and two girls moaning together
looooooooooool
but some stuffs are really odd
when you kiss one the other will be jealous and when you kiss the other this one will be jealous
so no way to marry one Man
but whenever they decided to with one man , they can count me in
i m handsome , good looking and strong enough to satisfy both of them
haa , but there are alot of questions in my mind about them
imagine
you're hungry but the other one eats and you're not hungry anymore . but you have to shit out what the other one's is eaten
that so cruel you have to shit what you haven't eat ? no
I think I'm in love...
If you are only 11, what are you doing up at 10 past midnight??
Why is everyone talking about their future relationships? It's not YOUR decision who and how they choose to marry - it's theirs. Let them be the amazing and unique way they are, and let's just see how they do :)
Best of luck to you both! I think you are both brave self-assertive young women! I'm a 14-year-old, and your strong personalities are ones I truly look up to.
Stay strong,
Alice
lol, right on!!
What exactly does extreme right to lifer mean?
And based on what? Eugenics? Wasn't that discredited a century ago?
Get a life. Pun intended.
What is it with all these unsatisfied, horny, Nazis spewing their adolescent ego all over this story?
THATS SO COOL HOW THEY CAN DO THAT BUT WHAT WHEN THEY TAKE A TEST OR A SHOWER
weird. i thought that would be impossible, but its true. thats really sweet. but what if they wanna have a baby...? o.O thats the hard part
I'm more interested in the quality of the answers each philosophy does claim to have. How well do claims fit observable reality? Based on that criteria, I choose factual science over most religion, which as far as I've been able to discern is typically a muli-generational a fairytale invented and re-invented and each time told with great conviction by those who want to control and manipulate others by offering false rewards and punishments in a non-existent afterlife.
I do believe the future influences the past, based on my personal experience, and so, rather than an afterlife, it would make more sense to me that we fall out of time and exist forever at all times at once.
excellent writing .
Polygamy is not illegal. Bigamy is. Dating 2 or more people is currently only a religious crime in this country...
How do these girls swim? Not as an offense at all, these girls are beautiful people who should live there lives.
You have a greeat blog here! I love the content!
Great work.I really appreciate your blog .thanks for sharing this post
even there conjoined it doesnt mean there less beautiful and honestly if they were 1 person people just say they good looking girls,to get back to the point there still beautiful girls nomatter what and they could have a great life together and meet the man of there dreams
I'm sure they swim much as they walk-- learned coordination. Entirely separate people learn intricate piano duets and coordinated dance routines; they're in a far better position to learn such coordination.
Legal issues are due here. One man cannot marry two women. The twins have "shot themselves in the foot". They consider themselves to be two people so marriage for them would be bigamy for the husband. Then there is the awful subject of rape. If one does not consent then then what happens? Their parents live in a fantasy world. The girls may live a normal life,but they are not
normal. They cannot be sheltered by society, forever. It is not our obligation to make exceptions for them. They "made their bed now they must lay in it".
Wow.
Congratulations on being the only person I've ever heard compare attempting to live normally with a congenital condition as terrible and difficult as Parapagus fusion to "shooting themselves in the foot".
I happen to be a Law student, and in fact, laws are bent around specified situations -so- often that instead of speculation about their hypothetical sex life, one might be more efficient by teaching oneself a bit of humility and empathy, or basic respect for others in general.
And, for the record, assuming someone can't live a normal life because of the way they look is bigoted and close-minded. A quadruple-amputee recently swam across the English channel. have you done that? I doubt it.
read my imagination about conjoined quadruplets at http://paidcritique.blogspot.com/2011/06/thinking-about-conjoined-twins.html
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