Conjoined twin Brittany Hensel’s rights now her sister is legally married
Ever since news broke last month that her conjoined sister Abby had tied the knot with her husband Josh, followers of Brittany's story have been left wondering what this means for her.
Abby and Brittany Hensel were born back in 1990 and have grown up sharing one body.
The duo, 34, are conjoined by the dicephalus, sharing a bloodstream and all organs below the waist - with the former controlling the right side of the body, and the latter controlling the left.
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Since childhood, the sisters have opened up about the highs and lows of their life through several high-profile interviews - including with Oprah Winfrey - and even starred in their very own TLC show, Abby and Brittany.
In recent years, however, the pair have seemingly took a step back from the spotlight, having gotten education degrees and becoming elementary school teachers.
That was until last month, when it was discovered that Abby had actually married her long-term boyfriend, nurse and army veteran Josh back in 2021.
Since the news broke, the general public - many of whom have followed the twins' life story for decades - have a lot of questions for them.
Though they've never explicitly opened up about how Abby's relationship with her husband affects Brittany, this hasn't stopped followers wondering about the ethics of it all, with specific regard to the latter's rights.
"How does this unfold legally? Since they are two people married to one man, who is on the marriage certificate?" one recently asked on Reddit.
Another came back with a rather detailed theory: "One of the twins will be the legal spouse as far as the state is concerned.
"So it is theoretically possible that the other twin could someday decide to marry a different person.
"But given the way they have had to harmonise their entire lives, I imagine they would find it easier to stick to being married to just one person."
A third estimated why the relationship would not be considered polygamy, writing: "My guess is that only Abby would be legally married.
"I remember back when they learned how to drive, they each needed to get their own driver’s license for legal reasons, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the marriage laws were also applied in the same way to reflect that they’re two individual people (despite sharing a physical body)."
Meanwhile, another guessed: "Abby and Brittany are legally two different people. In practice, it’s a little more confusing.
"This is probably more like they are all married, but legally only one of them can be married to that one dude.
"You know, because polygamy is illegal."
When it comes to the possibility of becoming mothers at some point, however, Brittany and Abby are all for it.
"Yeah, we're going to be moms," Brittany previously said on their documentary, Joined for Life.
"The whole world doesn't need to know who we are seeing, what we are doing and when we are going to do it." she also said in another interview.
"But believe me, we are totally different people."
While Abby said they were 'going to be moms one day' but 'didn't want to talk about how it's going to work yet'.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Life, Real Life, True Life
Rhianna Benson