Conjoined twin Abby Hensel is now married

Conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel first gained national attention when they appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 1996.

Now the sisters have reached a major life milestone: Abby is married.

The Hensels later starred in the feel-good TLC reality series “Abby and Brittany," which showed them driving, traveling to Europe and even riding a moped. When the show ended after one season, Abby and Brittany had just graduated from college with degrees in education.

A lot has happened in the last decade. Abby, 34, is now married. According to public records, Abby, a teacher, and Josh Bowling, a nurse and United States Army veteran, tied the knot in 2021. The sisters also shared photos of the wedding on social media. The couple live in Minnesota, where the Hensels were born and raised. 

The sisters are both teaching fifth grade in Minnesota.

According to pictures and videos on Bowling’s Facebook page, the family enjoys nature hikes, ice cream and and snow tubing. TODAY.com reached out to Abby for comment but did not get an immediate response.

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. 

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.

Only about one in every 200,000 live births result in conjoined twins. Approximately 70% of conjoined twins are female, and most are stillborn, according to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com