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Conjoined Twin Abby Hensel Is Now Married

Abby Hensel, the conjoined twin made famous alongside her sister, Brittany, has private wedding to nurse Josh Bowling.
Credit: TLC & Facebook

Conjoined twin Abby Hensel, known alongside her twin Brittany, has got married.

Brittany and Abby (who were born and raised in Minnesota) first shared their life story in 1996 on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The twins remained in the public eye, even earning their own reality TV show, Abby & Brittany on TLC in 2012.

Since then, the sisters have taken a break from public life.

But now, it’s been revealed that Abby Hensel has married!

Related Article: People Are All Asking The Same Thing After Conjoined Twin Abby Hensel Got Married

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The twins are dicephalic conjoined twins, who were born fused together at the torso and have remained so as adults.

This means that Abby and Brittany have separate spinal cords, brains, and hearts but share a bloodstream and their organs are located below the waist.

Brittany controls the left side of their body, while Abby controls the right.

Like many in their position, Abby and Brittany have not let being conjoined twins hold them back.

The pair graduated from Bethel University in 2012 and, in recent years, they have worked as teachers at an elementary school in Minnesota.

Abby and Brittany Hensel
Abby and Brittany Hensel shot to fame on a reality TV show. Credit: TLC

When Abby and Brittany were born in 1990, their parents, Patty and Mike Hensel were advised that surgery to separate the twins could result in one of them not surviving.

“How could you pick between the two?” Mike said, during a 2001 interview with Time magazine.

“People have been curious about us since we were born, for obvious reasons,” the twins said in the first episode of the eight-part series, according to ABC.

“But our parents never let us use that as an excuse. We were raised to believe we could do anything we wanted to do.”

However, in spite of their reality TV fame, Abby and Brittany have kept their love lives relatively private.

“The whole world doesn’t need to know who we’re dating,” Brittany said in the documentary Joined for Life: Abby & Brittany Turn 16, “or what we’re gonna do and everything.”

Abby and Brittany Hensel
The twins have confirmed that they would like to be mums one day. Credit: TLC

However, the pair have confirmed they’d like to be mums.

“Yeah, we’re going to be mums,” Brittany said in the documentary. “We haven’t thought about how being mums is going to work yet.”

Their mum Patty shared: “That is probably something that could work because those organs do work for them.”

“They’re good-looking girls. They’re witty. They’ve got everything going for them, except they’re together,” Mike added.

Josh Bowling, Abby and Brittany Hensel.
Public records have revealed that Abby Hensel has tied the knot! Credit: @abbyandbrittanthensel/TikTok

And it has since been revealed that, in fact, Abby has actually been married for a couple of years.

She tied the knot with Josh Bowling in 2021, Today reports, citing public records.

Their Facebook profile picture suggests a wedding photo, showing the conjoined twins in a wedding dress while Bowling, dressed in a grey suit, stands beside them holding their hand and the pair posted a TikTok showing off several photos from the wedding day.

Bowling is reportedly a nurse and United States Army veteran.

Additionally, his X (formerly Twitter) profile, which is linked to his Facebook account, reads, “Christian, father, husband, veteran, and occasional gamer.”

According to pictures and videos on Bowling’s Facebook page, the family enjoys outside activities like nature hikes and snow tubing – and, of course, ice cream!

@abbyandbrittanyhensel

#marriage #love

♬ The Good Ones – Gabby Barrett

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Written by Annie Walton Doyle

Annie Walton Doyle is a content editor at IGV who specialises in trending, lifestyle and entertainment news. She graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London, with a degree in English Literature. Annie has previously worked with organisations such as The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Harvard University, the Pulitzer Prize and 22 Words.