Conjoined twin Abby Hensel, from Abby & Brittany, weds

Abby Hensel, 34, is married.

 

The conjoined twin who rose to fame in reality show Abby & Brittany secretly tied the knot with an army veteran in 2021.

 

According to recently seen public records obtained by TODAY, Abby, a teacher, married Josh Bowling, a nurse and United States Army veteran.

 

 

The sisters recently shared photos of the wedding on social media. The couple live in Minnesota, where the Hensels were born and raised.

 

 

 

 

The twins are now both fifth grade teachers.

 

Abby and Brittany are dicephalus conjoined twins, and share a bloodstream and all organs below the waist. Abby controls their right arm and leg, Brittany controls the left.

 

They first captivated the world in 1996 when they appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the cover of Life Magazine.

 

They then lived a quiet, normal life in Minnesota with their family, keeping away from the media spotlight until they agreed to appear on a documentary for TLC when they turned 16. 

 

When Abby and Brittany were born in 1990, their parents, Patty and Mike Hensel, decided against separation surgery, deeming it too risky. At the time, doctors said there was little chance that both would survive the operation.

 

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

 

In the 2003 documentary “Joined for Life,” Patty Hensel said that her daughters were interested in having children one day.

 

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

 

“Yeah, we’re going to be moms,” Brittany said. “We haven’t thought about how being moms is going to work yet. But we’re just 16 — we don’t need to think about that right now.”