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8 months ago
22
Conjoined twin Abby Hensel did not list her sister Brittany as a wedding witness during her secret nuptials.
News of the nuptials first emerged last week when it was revealed that Abby, 34, had tied the knot with a nurse and army veteran named Josh Bowling, 33, back in 2021.
And now, TMZ has revealed that, despite Brittany sharing a partial body with Abby, she was not on the marriage certificate's witness list.
The publication reviewed the documents and revealed that Abby listed their other sister, Morgan Hensel, and someone named Cosmo Naut as the witnesses to her and Josh's wedding.
Conjoined twin Abby Hensel (left) did not list her sister Brittany (center) as a wedding witness during her secret nuptials to Josh Bowling (right)
News hit the web last week that Abby, 34, had tied the knot with nurse and army veteran named Josh, 33, back in 2021
And now, TMZ has revealed that despite Brittany sharing a partial body with Abby, she was not on the marriage certificate's witness list. The sisters are seen during their childhood
Abby and her sister Brittany - one of only a few sets of dicephalus twins in history to survive infancy - rose to fame on their eponymous TLC show in 2012, which chronicled some of their major life events, including their high school graduation and job hunting.
From the waist down, all their organs, including the intestine, bladder and reproductive organs, are shared.
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.
Abby's relationship with Josh, who is a father-of-one, had gone under the radar until last month, when old footage and snaps from the ceremony shared to their Facebook account at the time resurfaced.
For the big day, the sisters sported a sleeveless wedding dress with lace trim detailing - while the groom wore a grey suit.
The twins, who have their own birth certificates and passports, were raised Christian by their parents, a nurse and a carpenter.
When they were born on March 7, 1990, doctors warned their parents Patty and Mike that they were unlikely to survive the night. But that prediction was to prove wildly wrong.
Abby and Brittany first captivated the world in 1996 when they appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the cover of Life Magazine.
The publication reviewed the documents and revealed that Abby listed their other sister, Morgan Hensel, and someone named Cosmo Naut as the witnesses to her and Josh's wedding
Abby and her sister Brittany - one of only a few sets of dicephalus twins in history to survive infancy - rose to fame on their eponymous TLC show in 2012 (seen)
Abby's relationship with Josh had gone under the radar until last month, when old snaps from the ceremony shared to Facebook at the time resurfaced. The sisters are seen at the wedding
They then went under the radar until the TLC show skyrocketed them back into the spotlight. But since then, they've lived quiet lives away from the public eye.
From the waist down, all their organs, including the intestine, bladder and reproductive organs, are shared
Each has control over one side of the body, with Abby controlling the right hand side and Brittany the left, according to the BBC.
Though the pair share many organs, they experience separate hungers and separate urges to urinate and sleep. Their nervous systems are also distinct.
Time reported that if Abby is tickled on her side, Brittany can't feel it (apart from along a narrow part on their back where they appear to share sensation).
In the TLC docuseries, filmed when they were 16 years old, their mother revealed that they were keen to have children of their own one day.
'That is probably something that could work because those organs do work for them,' she explained.
When they were born on March 7, 1990, doctors warned their parents Patty and Mike that they were unlikely to survive the night. But that prediction was to prove wildly wrong
Abby and Brittany first captivated the world in 1996 when they appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show (seen) and the cover of Life Magazine
They then went under the radar until the TLC show (seen) skyrocketed them back into the spotlight. But since then, they've lived quiet lives away from the public eye
They are able to do most things a nonconjoined person can do, including driving and cooking, and they've also mastered things like playing the piano and participating in sports.
Can conjoined twins have children?
Conjoined twins are exceptionally rare, with less than one in 100,000 births.
Female conjoined twins are even more rare and in many cases, the twins don't survive infancy.
As such, there is only in only one case were pregnancy and delivery successfully achieved by the conjoined twins themselves, according to the US National Library of Medicine.
Rosa and Josepha Blažek, born in Skrejšov, Bohemia in 1878, were joined at the posterior, and in 1909, Rosa had a son.
Last year, a formerly conjoined twin gave birth where she and her sister were surgically separated as babies over two decades ago.
Charity Lincoln Gutierrez-Vazquez, 21, and her twin sister Kathleen were attached from the breastbone to the pelvis when they were born in 2000. The sisters, who each had one leg, shared several internal organs and a third fused leg.
When they were seven months old, they were successfully separated by a team of nearly 30 doctors, nurses, and support staff at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle during a dangerous 31-hour surgery.
Twenty-one years later, Charity welcomed her baby girl, Alora, at the same hospital via cesarean section.
The twins passed their driving test on their 16th birthday - a mind-boggling feat of teamwork with each twin using one arm to control the steering wheel.
'Abby takes over the pedals and the shifter, we both steer, and I take over the blinker and the lights,' Brittany said in the TLC doc.
They now both work as fifth grade math teachers at an elementary school in New Brighton, Minnesota, where they were born and raised.
'Obviously, right away, we understand that we are going to get one salary because we're doing the job of one person,' Abby previously said.
'One can be teaching and one can be monitoring and answering questions,' explained Brittany.
'So in that sense we can do more than one person.' The twins also have two teaching licenses.'
For tasks such as replying to emails, they use the keyboard and respond as one, anticipating each other's feelings with little verbal communication between them.
'When it comes to decisions, there are compromises we have to make. We take turns. We want to work it so each of us is happy and we find a happy medium,' Abby dished.
'We usually bargain with each other, like "if you do this, I'll give you that,"' Brittany added.
There is only one of set of twins living in the world with the same condition - brothers Ayşe and Sema Tanrıkulu who were born in Turkey in 2000.
After news of Abby and Josh's wedding went viral the sisters posted a TikTok video responding to their 'haters.'
'This is a message to all the haters out there,' they captioned a photo of them with Josh.
'If you don't like what I do, but watch everything I'm doing, you're still a fan.'
They also shared images of ancient sculptures depicting conjoined twins and added: 'The internet is extra LOUD today. We have always been around.'
They are able to do most things a nonconjoined person can do , including driving and cooking, and they've also mastered things like playing the piano and participating in sports
They now both work as fifth grade math teachers at an elementary school in New Brighton, Minnesota, where they were born and raised. They're seen in the 2012 TLC show
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Abby's husband Josh had been hit with a paternity suit by his ex-wife, Annica Bowling, who he split from in 2019. He's seen at his wedding to Abby
They currently share custody of their eight-year-old daughter, Isabella. Annica is seen with Josh
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Abby's husband Josh had been hit with a paternity suit by his ex-wife, Annica Bowling, who he split with just two years before marrying the famous conjoined twin.
Court records viewed by DailyMail.com show Annica filed the suit against Josh and another man named Gavin Vatnsdal.
Josh and Annica married in 2010 then split in 2019, according to court records. They currently share custody of their eight-year-old daughter, Isabella.
Josh and Annica's divorce was finalized on April 23, 2020, then Annica had another child later that year who in court documents is referred to as 'Isabella's half-sister.'
It is unclear which child paternity is being tested for, but a genetic test report was filed to the court on March 7 that is not available for public viewing.
How conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel defied 1% chance of survival: Pair who share a body and major organs are the only female twins in the world with their condition
Conjoined twins occur when siblings have their skin or internal organs fused together.
Just one set of twins in every 40,000 is born connected in some way to each other and only 1 per cent of those survive beyond the first year.
Conjoined twins are caused by a fertilised egg beginning to split into two embryos a few weeks after conception, but the process stops before it is complete.
The most common type is twins joined at the chest or abdomen.
Separation surgery success depends on where the twins are joined. Doctors can only tell which organs the siblings share, and therefore plan surgery, after they are born. At least one twin survives 75 per cent of the time.
The most famous pair of conjoined twins was Chang and Eng Bunker, who were born in 1811 and travelled with PT Barnum's circus. They were born in Siam and were known as the Siamese twins.
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, resulting in dicephalic parapagus - where the twins have two heads and a single body with two arms and two legs.
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.
From the waist down, all organs, including the intestine, bladder and reproductive organs, are shared.
While they were born with three arms, one was removed surgically.
Although 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.
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.
There is only one of set of twins living in the world with the same condition - brothers Ayşe and Sema Tanrıkulu who were born in Turkey in 2000.
English (US)