Abigail and Brittney Hensel: The Twins That Share a Body

On Thursday, October 10th, 2018, I watched the documentary Abigail and Brittney Hensel: The Twins That Share a Body. The film presentation details the life of the Hensel twins; however, it was an eye opener for me.


in regards to the twins’ story, Abigail and Brittney Hensel are from Carver County, Minnesota; however, they grew up in New Germany, Minnesota. Their parents are Mike and Patty Hensel. The twins attended Mayer Lutheran High and graduated from Bethel University.


When it comes to the twins’ body, the program tells us each twin controls a side, mostly, If you touch one side of a twins, the other twin can’t feel it. Also, they each have their own lungs, stomach, spine, spinal cord, heart, brain, etc.


When it comes to personality, the twins have different personalities. Abigail seems more outgoing as in high school class. Further, Brittney doesn’t like being around people and dislikes trips to Disney Land.


TheĀ  presentation says shopping can be an issue for the twins. T-shirts must be refitted to fit the proportions of their body. Moreover, pants don’t have to be altered.


In the broadcast, the twins talked about being annoyed. When people stare, the twins didn’t like it. Additionally, they didn’t like pictures or videos taken without their consent. New places could be annoying for the twins.


Moreover, the twins learned to drive in the film. We see them sign up for a drivers exam; also, they end up passing the drivers license test. With that, each twin got a separate license. Now, they can drive wherever they want to go.


There was an interesting thing about the twin’s community in the documentary: The people around the twins were very protective, which struck me as a bit odd. I get the community was close knit and a small farming community, and people just wanted to protected the twins from the world. However, to me, it seems the twins will grow up, and the community won’t be there one day. I felt the documentary could of explored more of why the community was so protective.


In any case, people have drawn strength from Abigail and Brittney. Tamara Vogt, a mother who lost conjoined twins, said this about the twins: “Abigail and Brittney have shown me how to be positive in life. They given me strength from within, which I didn’t know I had.” That being said, one would think that the twins would be needing strength from people, but it’s people who need strength from the twins.


When it comes to human problems like loneliness, the twins have avoided this obstacle.


“The best thing about being cajoined twins is there is always someone there to talk to. And you are never alone.” said Abigail and Brittney.


Indeed, this documentary was an eye opener. I don’t know any twins, but after watchng this documentary, I felt like I did. These twins could of been my sister. Also, generally, they had similar problems like me. The thing that struck me the most about this documentary: People without disabilities drew inner strength from the twins, which I thought would be the other way around. For me, I learned something from this documentary.