Entertainment
TLC stars Abby and Brittany Hensel have always said they wanted to be mothers, but since the conjoined twins share reproductive organs, a new report has questioned whether it’s possible — and which of the women would legally be considered the mother should they become pregnant.
The 34-year-old twins said in a documentary made when they were teenagers they planned on becoming mothers later in life, according to the Telegraph.
“Yeah, we are going to be mums one day, but we don’t want to talk about how it’s going to work yet,” the newly married woman said at the time.
But how that would work, as the sister’s share reproductive organs, has come into question, the outlet said.
The twins were back in the spotlight this week after posting a video with snippets of Abby’s 2021 wedding to Josh Bowling, 33.
If Abby or Brittany go on to have biological children, they would be the first female dicephalic — or fused side-by-side — twins to do so.
The women each have a heart and lungs, but all other organs, including their reproductive system, is shared, the Telegraph reported.
Male conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker, who were born in 1811 in what is now Thailand, went on to have 21 children between the two of them –10 for Chang and 11 for Eng — breaking the record for most children born to unseparated twins, according to Guinness World Records.
The twins made a small fortune being paraded around America, before settling in North Carolina after gaining citizenship. They married sisters, Adelaide and Sarah Yates, and lived in separate homes, spending three days at a time in each home.
They would die in 1874, hours apart from each other, and were the oldest conjoined twins ever, according to Guinness.
One half of the formerly conjoined twins, Rosa and Josepha Blažek, of what is now considered the Czech Republic, had a child.
Rosa had a son in 1910, according to a study. The twins were later separated from each other.
Unlike the Bunker brothers, who shared a liver, the Hensel share vital organs — meaning it’s unclear if a pregnancy is possible or who would be the legal mother, the Telegraph claims.
The twins each have their own spine and control separate sides of the body, conjoining at the pelvis.
It’s unclear if the world will ever find out the answers: the women have asked for privacy.
“The whole world doesn’t need to know who we are seeing, what we are doing and when we are going to do it,” Brittany said.
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Laura Davis is an entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to Broadway, she offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
