Menu Bar
Needs Plugin: Flash | Not Working?
Abby and Brittany Hensel: Twins Who Share a Body
Although they are two completely separate people, these accomplished teens (Abigail and Brittany Hensel) share a body and have just two arms and legs between them.
Born in 1990, the girls have been brought up in a small, tightly knit community in Minnesota, almost completely protected from prying eyes and inquisitive stares. To their friends and family, they are distinct people with very different personalities, needs, tastes, and desires. But to the outside world they are sort of a medical mystery, particularly given the fact that they can do virtually all the same things as their friends, including playing the piano, riding a bike, swimming, driving a car, and playing softball. Their personalities make them inspirational, their mother says. They never give up; anything they want to do, they go out and do it.
The medical world is keen to find out how two separate brains and nervous systems can work in such a perfectly coordinated way, but the twins and their family have always resisted nonessential medical tests. The family want to treat them as though they are just like everyone else, Joy Westerdahl, the girls' doctor, says. She admits that it is a mystery how their unique physiology functions.
As they enter adulthood, the twins are likely to leave the haven of their home town and face the wider world. In preparation for that time, they have taken part in this intimate documentary to show the world what it is like to be joined for life.
Born in 1990, the girls have been brought up in a small, tightly knit community in Minnesota, almost completely protected from prying eyes and inquisitive stares. To their friends and family, they are distinct people with very different personalities, needs, tastes, and desires. But to the outside world they are sort of a medical mystery, particularly given the fact that they can do virtually all the same things as their friends, including playing the piano, riding a bike, swimming, driving a car, and playing softball. Their personalities make them inspirational, their mother says. They never give up; anything they want to do, they go out and do it.
The medical world is keen to find out how two separate brains and nervous systems can work in such a perfectly coordinated way, but the twins and their family have always resisted nonessential medical tests. The family want to treat them as though they are just like everyone else, Joy Westerdahl, the girls' doctor, says. She admits that it is a mystery how their unique physiology functions.
As they enter adulthood, the twins are likely to leave the haven of their home town and face the wider world. In preparation for that time, they have taken part in this intimate documentary to show the world what it is like to be joined for life.
May 26, 2008 3:21 AM
Re: The Twins Who Share a Body
Wonderful episode of the Extraordinar People program.
By: spam_vigilante
Re: The Twins Who Share a Body
Fully aware the morbidity of this question but:
If they get killed by a drunk driver, is it one or two counts of vehicular manslaughter?
If they get killed by a drunk driver, is it one or two counts of vehicular manslaughter?
By: Faffy
Re: The Twins Who Share a Body
Can't they just shut their mouth when they're chewing? That's two time more irritating than from a normal person, damnit!
By: NEU-NEU
Re: The Twins Who Share a Body
They're teenagers. Teenagers don't know how to keep their mouths closed.
By: Griff
Re: Abby and Brittany Hensel: Twins Who Share a Body
first, i found this story so tastefully done, kudos to all involved.
as a father of 3, with a daughter, from what was shown in the video, these are two very normal teens with better than average smarts.
im so glad they are in such a loving family, with a caring community.
life is not easy for anyone, and the reality is these remarkable young women will have more than "normal" issues to deal with as they go though life.
however, with the (wonderful!) support and upbringing of all their loved one's, they appear to have been better prepared than others with much less to deal with, to truly succeed in all they chose to do in their lives.
my heart is all warm and mushy.
i cant wait to see what these two will do with their lives.
good job mom and dad!
as a father of 3, with a daughter, from what was shown in the video, these are two very normal teens with better than average smarts.
im so glad they are in such a loving family, with a caring community.
life is not easy for anyone, and the reality is these remarkable young women will have more than "normal" issues to deal with as they go though life.
however, with the (wonderful!) support and upbringing of all their loved one's, they appear to have been better prepared than others with much less to deal with, to truly succeed in all they chose to do in their lives.
my heart is all warm and mushy.
i cant wait to see what these two will do with their lives.
good job mom and dad!
By: wildancrazy159
Re: Abby and Brittany Hensel: Twins Who Share a Body
(Sorry this is so long.) I applaud the people who put this together. It seems the filming was done gracefully and with compassion for their privacy.
I have to make a comment about how much Dr. Nick Fisk creeps me out. At time code 5:05 he discusses Abby and Brittany's body structure with the comment, "each has its own pair of lungs." I believe "it" may have been an appropriate pronoun if he was discussing the general type of twin that they are, but he was speaking about the girls themselves. It's easy to see from that one slip of the tongue why they could never open the door to research scientists. As they are otherwise healthy individuals I feel that their family made an excellent choice in keeping them safe from a life of laboratories.
One thing I noticed about people's general response was that so many people made the comment that they couldn't understand how the girls function so well. If you aren't worried in the fine details (if you're not looking to publish) it's easy to see. Take a look at 39:39 and watch their gait as they walk. It's like watching two people each using a crutch for the other leg. With constant practice (they don't know any other way) it's not surprising at all that they would be skilled at it.
I have to wonder if the people who question the girls' ability to work as one have good sex lives. (Totally serious - no joke being made.) That's got to be the closest the average person will come to being in sync with another person's body as intimately as the girls are. Their lives are built around that cooperation, and they must have learned early on that it was necessary for not just survival, but success. I hope that their transition to adulthood goes smoothly, and wish them and their family the best.
I have to make a comment about how much Dr. Nick Fisk creeps me out. At time code 5:05 he discusses Abby and Brittany's body structure with the comment, "each has its own pair of lungs." I believe "it" may have been an appropriate pronoun if he was discussing the general type of twin that they are, but he was speaking about the girls themselves. It's easy to see from that one slip of the tongue why they could never open the door to research scientists. As they are otherwise healthy individuals I feel that their family made an excellent choice in keeping them safe from a life of laboratories.
One thing I noticed about people's general response was that so many people made the comment that they couldn't understand how the girls function so well. If you aren't worried in the fine details (if you're not looking to publish) it's easy to see. Take a look at 39:39 and watch their gait as they walk. It's like watching two people each using a crutch for the other leg. With constant practice (they don't know any other way) it's not surprising at all that they would be skilled at it.
I have to wonder if the people who question the girls' ability to work as one have good sex lives. (Totally serious - no joke being made.) That's got to be the closest the average person will come to being in sync with another person's body as intimately as the girls are. Their lives are built around that cooperation, and they must have learned early on that it was necessary for not just survival, but success. I hope that their transition to adulthood goes smoothly, and wish them and their family the best.
By: catgrin
