One of America’s most famous conjoined twins has been secretly married for three years.
According to public data obtained by TODAYAbby Hensel, now 34, from Minnesota, married Josh Bowling, a nurse and Army veteran, in 2021.
It is believed that Abby and her sister Brittany are one of the few dicephalus twins in history who survived childhood and rose to fame on their eponymous TLC show that chronicled their major life events, including their high school graduation and job search .
The pair are joined at the base of the spine and from the waist down all their organs, including the intestines, bladder and reproductive organs, are shared.
Abby’s relationship with Josh, who is a father-of-one, has flown under the radar until now, with the twins living a quieter life away from the spotlight for the past decade.
Abby Hensel, now 34, married nurse and former US veteran Josh Bowling in 2021
On TikTok account @abbyandbrittanyhensela clip was recently posted showing Abby’s big day – and a Facebook account titled Britt And Abby also featured a image of the happy couple.
For the ceremony, details of which were revealed, took place in 2021, the twins wore a sleeveless wedding dress with lace details, while the groom wore a gray suit.
According to TODAY, the pair are now both fifth-grade teachers. They live in Minnesota, where they were born and raised by their parents, a nurse and a carpenter.
They first captivated the world in 1996 when they appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and on the cover of Life Magazine.
They then lived a quiet, normal life with their family in Minnesota, keeping out of the media spotlight until they agreed to appear in a documentary for TLC at the age of 16.
When the Hensel twins were born in Minnesota on March 7, 1990, doctors warned their parents Patty and Mike that they were unlikely to survive the night. But that prediction would turn out to be completely wrong.
They also amazed the doctors with their amazing coordination while playing the piano, with Abigail taking on the right hand and Brittany on the left.
Growing up, they enjoyed sports such as bowling, volleyball, cycling, softball and swimming.
Here’s Abby stunning in a floor-length white dress on her wedding day
And on their 16th birthday they passed their driving test, an astonishing feat of teamwork in which each twin used one arm to operate the steering wheel.
Their mother Patty, a nurse, admitted at the time that this could have been a problem.
She said: “I don’t know what would happen if they were stopped for speeding. Would they all get a ticket or just Abby because it’s her foot on the accelerator?’
Yet parents Patty and Mike never considered separating the twins because of the risk that both would die or be left with such severe disabilities that their quality of life would be compromised.