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Conjoined Twin Abby Hensel’s Love Story With Josh Bowling: All Your Burning Questions Answered!
The Hensel sisters — conjoined twins whose lives were documented in the 2012 TLC series Abby & Brittany — had a message for their critics. “This is for all you haters out there. If you don’t like what I do but watch everything I’m doing — you’re still a fan,” they defiantly declared in a TikTok clip shared on March 29 — two days after the Today show discovered Abby Hensel had quietly wed more than two years ago, sparking a wave of public interest.
Fascination grew as details emerged along with photos from the nuptials. Wearing a white sleeveless gown, Abby married Josh Bowling, 33, a nurse and Army veteran, in November 2021, and together with Brittany Hensel, they shared their first dance. “People have been curious about us since we were born, for obvious reasons,” Abby and Brittany, 34, have said, “but our parents never let us use that as an excuse. We were raised to believe we could do anything we wanted to do.” That includes learning to drive, playing the piano, going to college (the sisters work as fifth-grade teachers in their native Minnesota) and now, getting married. “Abby and Josh are very happy,” a source exclusively tells In Touch. “And Abby and Josh are grateful to have such an inspiring love story.”
Abby and Josh Want to Start a Family
But that love story has sparked a lot of questions, considering Brittany is connected to Abby. As dicephalus conjoined twins — the Hensels are reportedly one of only two sets with the same condition in the world today — Abby and Brittany share a single body, a bloodstream and all organs below the waist, including the intestines, the bladder and the reproductive organs. Abby controls their right arm and leg, and Brittany controls their left limbs. (A third, undeveloped arm was removed from their chest in infancy.)
Their unique anatomy means intimate moments between husband and wife are also shared with Abby’s sister. Alice Dreger, a conjoined twins expert and former college professor, says that since the twins have one set of genitals, both would experience the same physical feelings. As for kissing? “The biology geek in me wants to answer that the happy hormones that come from a good kiss probably work their way to both brains. But the student of human nature in me says that when your sister gets kissed and you don’t, it’s quite possible that the unhappy hormones end up standing at the gate.” According to the source, Josh, Abby and Brittany are doing just fine. “To an outsider, sex might seem like a logistical nightmare, but Abby and Brittany’s lives are very normal to them,” says the source.
And, yes, starting a family is also on the table. Having children “is probably something that could work because those organs do work for them,” the Hensels’ mother said in a documentary filmed when the twins were teens. Added Abby: “We are going to be moms one day.” She already has practice as a stepmom to Josh’s daughter, Isabella, 8, whom he welcomed during his first marriage. “Abby absolutely loves her,” says the source. “And Abby loves her life with Josh and her sister. As long as they’re happy, she doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.”
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