Sunday, October 17, 2010

Conjoined Twins - Abigail and Brittany Hensel

Brittany (left) and Abigail (right) are conjoined twins. Born in 1990 they live in Minnesota, USA. They have two spines which join at the pelvis. They have two stomachs, three lungs, and two arms.

They appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 8 and April 29, 1996. In September 1998, the twins were featured on the cover of Life under the caption "One Body, Two Souls", and their daily lifestyle was depicted in the corresponding article titled The Hensels' Summer. In 2003, an updated story of them at age 11 (filmed in 2001) was published in Time and again in Life.

Common organs

Most of Abigail and Brittany's shared organs lie below the waist line.

* 2 heads

* 2 arms—originally 3, but the short malformed central arm was removed

* 2 spinal cords and backbones—surgery corrected scoliosis

* 3½ lungs—surgery expanded their chest cavity while correcting scoliosis

* 2 breasts

* 2 hearts in a shared circulatory system—medicine taken by either affects both

* 1 liver

* 2 stomachs

* 3 kidneys

* 2 gallbladders

* 1 bladder

* 1 ribcage

* 1 large intestine

* 1 reproductive system

* 1 pelvis with 2 legs


Conjoined Twins - Abigail and Brittany Hensel
Conjoined Twins - Abigail and Brittany Hensel
Conjoined Twins - Abigail and Brittany Hensel

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