One of America’s most famous conjoined twins has been secretly married for three years.
According to public records obtained by TODAYAbby Hensel, now 34, from Minnesota, married Josh Bowling, a nurse and Army veteran in 2021.
Abby and her sister Brittany are believed to be one of the few sets of dicephalic twins in history to survive infancy and rose to fame on their eponymous TLC show, which chronicled major events in their lives, including their graduation from high school and job search.
The pair are joined at the base of the spine and, from the waist down, share all of their organs, including the intestine, bladder, and reproductive organs.
Abby’s relationship with Josh, who is a father of one, has flown under the radar until now, with the twins leading a quieter life out of the spotlight for the past 10 years.
Abby Hensel, now 34, married nurse and former U.S. veteran Josh Bowling in 2021.
On the TikTok account @abbyandbrittanyhenselto the 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, which records show took place in 2021, the twins wore a sleeveless wedding dress with lace details, while the groom wore a gray suit.
They are both now fifth-grade teachers, according to TODAY.
They live in Minnesota, where they were born and raised by their parents, a nurse and a carpenter.
The girls 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 in Minnesota with their family, staying out of the media spotlight until they agreed to appear in a documentary for TLC when they turned 16.
When the Hensel twins were born on March 7, 1990 in Minnesota, United States, doctors warned their parents, Patty, a registered nurse, and Mike, a carpenter and landscaper, that they were unlikely to survive the night.
But that prediction turned out to be wildly wrong.
They also amazed doctors with their amazing coordination while playing the piano, with Abigail taking the right-hand parts and Brittany taking 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, a mind-blowing feat of teamwork in which each twin used one arm to control the steering wheel.
At the time, his mother Patty, a registered nurse, admitted that might have been a problem.
“I don’t know what would happen if they got pulled over for speeding. Would they each get a ticket or just Abby because she has her foot on the gas?”
However, parents Patty and Mike never considered separating the twins, due to the risk that both would die or be left with disabilities so severe that their quality of life would be compromised.