Shared Lives

Abigail and Brittany Hensel, born in March of 1990, are dicephalic conjoined twins.  They have two spines that join at a shared pelvis.  With most of the twins’ shared organs below the waist, they have two heads, two spinal cords and backbones, two arms, two legs, one pelvis, two stomachs, three and a half lungs, two hearts in a shared circulatory system, two breasts, one liver, three kidneys, one bladder, and one reproductive system.  Each twin controls one side of their conjoined body.  Through coordinated efforts, they are able to walk and run normally.  They enjoy sports, photography, and socializing with friends.  They play piano and recently received their driver’s licenses.  Despite sharing one body, the twins have different tastes in food and clothes, as well as different personalities.  A recent YouTube video chronicles their lives as they turned sixteen.  The girls are walking examples of camaraderie and compromise as they negotiate their conjoined body through shared lives.

Any video submitted to YouTube is subject to immediate scrutiny and allows for posted comments from any viewer with a computer and Internet access.  Not all comments are kind or supportive.  Many reflect a “sideshow” mentality and many others reflect normal, healthy curiosity.  Surely one must wonder why anyone would open their life up to public examination as the girls have done in this video.  They are subjects of YouTube’s mini-documentary, originally aired on The Learning Channel, now entitled, “Two-Headed Girl,” a title that clearly misrepresents who they are.  As conjoined twins, they are two individuals, despite the title.  Perhaps this is why they are subjects of such a video, to alleviate misconceptions about their lives.  Perhaps they simply want the public to realize they are individuals who just happen to share one body.  Perhaps they want to make a statement about what others might consider a disability, even a liability.  Perhaps they simply enjoy publicity.  Regardless, this video offers insight into what must surely be challenging lives.

I first became aware of the Hensel twins from a cover of Life magazine in 1998, when they were eight years old.  “One Body, Two Souls” portrayed their lives as engaging and surprisingly “normal.”  Siblings in multiple births are fascinating, but conjoined twins, a rare occurrence, are enthralling.  We cannot help but watch when we see them.  We want to know how they manage their daily lives and how they cope with such close proximity to another person, with no chance for escape.  They raise questions within us.  We want to know what it might be like when our own individuality is in question, when the boundaries of the self are infringed upon.  We want to know how essential privacy is to happiness.  We want to know just how “normal” their lives can be. 

Imagine the stigma of being known as the “two-headed girl.”  Imagine the negative comments and the stares from those who neither know them, nor wish to know them.  This video, despite its title, show two girls, two individuals who just happen to share one body.  They cannot be separated because of their shared organs.  They cannot lead separate lives.  Though it must be quite challenging at times, even frustrating, they seem quite comfortable in their shared skin.