Together, they can type on a computer keyboard at normal speed and drive a car.
By coordinating their efforts, they are able to walk, run, swim and cycle normally, all the tasks they have learned at normal speed. They are effective in the cooperative by using its members when both hands or both legs are needed. Stomach pains however are felt only by the double on the opposite side. The sense of touch of each one is restricted to half of its body, in such a way that there is a small amount of overlap in the midline. At the age of 12, they underwent surgery to correct scoliosis and to expand their chest cavity to avoid future difficulties with breathing.Įach twin manages one side of their body together. The growth of Abigail’s spine had to be stopped surgically after Brittany prematurely stopped growing. Brittany’s leg is actually almost two inches shorter than Abigail’s leg, and Brittany tends to stand up and tiptoe, which gave her a significantly larger calf muscle than Abigail. He was removed, leaving the shoulder.Ībigail’s head tilts outwards about 5 degrees to the right, while Brittany tilts sideways about 15 degrees to the left, making her appear shorter, even when seated. At birth, they had a rudimentary arm between the base of their necks attached to a shoulder blade at the back, being combined parts of Abigail’s left arm and Brittany’s right arm. The twins have a single body with separate heads and necks, their chest is wider than normal, two arms and two legs. They were raised in New Germany, Minnesota and attended Lutheran High School in Mayer, Minnesota. The twins were born in Carver County, Minnesota, to daughters of Patty Hensel, a nurse, and Mike Hensel, a carpenter and landscaper.
#Abby and brittany hensel who controls the body series#
They starred in their own TV series on TLC in 2012. At the age of 16, they gave an interview on The Learning Channel on December 17, 2006, in which aspects of their daily lives and plans for the future were discussed. Other activities as diverse as brushing your hair and driving a car require each twin to perform a sequence of separate actions that coordinate with the other.ĭespite the curiosity their condition has generated, the twins received relatively little attention from the press until adulthood. While each is able to eat and write separately and simultaneously, activities such as running and swimming must be coordinated and alternate symmetrically. This means that as children, the initial learning of physical processes that required bodily coordination, such as clapping, crawling and walking, required the cooperation of both twins. Įach twin controls its half of its body, operating one of the arms and one of the legs. In fact, several vital organs have folded, each twin has a separate heart, lung, stomach, spine and spinal cord. They are highly symmetrical for Siamese twins, giving the impression that they have a single body with no marked variation to normal proportion. Loraine Abigail ” Abby ” Hensel and Brittany Lee Hensel ( 7 of March of 1990 ) are twin dicefálica parapagus, which means they are fraternal twins, each has a separate head, but their bodies are united. Sisters Abigail and Brittany Hensel respectively.