Conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel, best known for their TLC reality show Abby & Brittany, have recently made headlines again, this time after photos emerged of them carrying a newborn baby.
The 34-year-old sisters, who are dicephalic parapagus twins (meaning they share one body but have separate heads and nervous systems), were spotted in mid-August in Arden Hills, Minnesota, holding an infant in a car seat.
These images, first obtained by TMZ, showed the twins placing the baby into the back of a black Tesla.
The buzz around the twins’ private life didn’t stop there. Just two weeks later, TMZ captured the sisters running errands with Abby’s husband, Josh Bowling.
It was reported that the couple, along with Brittany, dropped off their dog at a groomer while Josh headed to a nearby grocery store.
More Baby Moments: Abby and Brittany at Work
On August 27, additional photos surfaced, showing Abby and Brittany once again with a baby carrier outside a school in Minnesota.
The twins work as fifth-grade teachers at the school, and the images showed them holding the baby carrier while chatting with a colleague.
The pictures also showed them taking the child inside the school for about 30 minutes to meet some of their co-workers.
While Abby and Brittany have remained tight-lipped about the identity of the child, their cryptic response to the situation only fueled more speculation.
In a TikTok video posted on August 30, the twins shared a montage of photos featuring them carrying the baby over the past few weeks.
Set to Dr. Dre's 'Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang', the video was captioned simply, “Blessed,” with the hashtags “sisterhood” and “respect.”
This post left many fans guessing about whether the child was theirs, with some questioning if they were babysitting or if it was their own child.
While some expressed confusion, many others showed support in the comments.
One user wrote: “I’m glad to see you're still out and about! With that said, you don’t owe anyone anything. People can wonder all they want, they are not entitled to your lives. I pray the best for you!”
Abby and Brittany’s Family Life: A Glimpse Into Their Marriage
This flurry of questions around Abby and Brittany’s personal life comes more than a year after Abby’s marriage to Josh Bowling was made public.
The couple, who tied the knot in 2021, had kept their wedding largely under wraps until March 2024, when official records were obtained by Today.
Following the news, Josh updated his Facebook profile picture to a cozy selfie with both Abby and Brittany.
Abby and Brittany have made it clear that they prefer to maintain their privacy. When their marriage first became public, they addressed public criticism with a playful message on TikTok: “This Is a Message To All the Haters Out There. If You Don’t Like What I Do But You Watch Everything I’m Doing You’re Still a Fan.”
They also shared clips from their wedding, including their first dance to a remix of Adele’s 'Rolling in the Deep'.
The Possibility of Children: Abby and Brittany’s Future Family Plans
Abby and Brittany’s unique physiology has led to questions about their ability to have children.
As dicephalic parapagus twins, they share many organs below the waist, but each has her own head and nervous system.
In the past, their mother, Patty, had spoken about the possibility of her daughters becoming mothers, explaining in the documentary Joined for Life (2003) that “that is probably something that could work because those organs do work for them.”
When asked if they wanted to have children, Brittany answered confidently: “Yeah, we’re going to be moms,” though she also added: “The whole world doesn’t need to know who we are seeing, what we are doing and when we are going to do it.”
Abby echoed this sentiment, stating: “Yeah, we are going to be moms one day, but we don’t want to talk about how it’s going to work yet.”
If Abby and Brittany did birth their own children, they would make history as the first female dicephalic twins to do so, according to Hello Magazine.
Legal Implications of Abby and Brittany’s Marriage
Abby’s marriage to Josh Bowling has raised additional questions, including inquiries about Brittany’s legal rights. Some curious minds even took to Reddit to ask if Brittany could marry someone else in the future, given their conjoined nature.
A family lawyer clarified the situation, explaining that legally, one of the twins would be considered the spouse, as far as the state is concerned.
However, the lawyer noted: “It is theoretically possible that the other twin could someday decide to marry a different person.”
Despite this possibility, it’s assumed that Abby and Brittany, who have harmonized their entire lives to share one body, would likely prefer to continue their lives as they are, with one legal spouse.