I wrote about the Hensel twins—that’s Abigail, the bride, above on the left, and Brittany, the maid-of-honor (I’m assuming) on the right—back in 2012 after the conjoined twins agreed to star in a reality show. The post was titled, “Are Freak Shows Unethical? Because They Are Back.” In the post I confessed my sadness that the twins, whose amazing story I had followed since they were todlers, had cashed in and allowed themselves to be exploited:
I first learned about Abigail and Brittany Hensel many years ago in a Life magazine feature about the remarkable conjoined twins, who to all observers appear to be a two-headed girl. That article talked about how accepting and protective their community was of Abigail and Brittany’s privacy and dignity, and how, except for the fact that they shared a single body, the twins were happy and well-adjusted. Later, when they were teens, there was a documentary about the girls on one of the network news magazines. Again, they seemed smart, lively and and normal by any standard, not just for a “two-headed girl.” They spoke enthusiastically about wanting to have careers and families, and sounded like any other teenager. I found the story both hopeful, inspiring and depressing, especially when Abigail said that she wanted to be a commercial airline pilot and Brittany said that she wanted to be a lawyer. How, exactly, were they going to pull that off?
Now the twins are young women—or a young two-headed woman?—and have apparently made the decision to become professional human oddities. They will be starring this month in a new reality show about their daily life and special problems. We can rationalize the show as an inspiring weekly demonstration of the strength and determination the twins must muster to overcome their disability and to try to lead normal lives, but let’s be honest: this is a modern freak show, no more, no less. As engaging and courageous as Abigail and Brittany are, the primary appeal of the show to the vast majority of viewers will be the fascination of watching a real, live, two-headed girl go through life….Yes, I wish I could have read that they had graduated from law school and started a law firm, or married two wonderful, normal guys who love them and are able to deal with the fact that it is biologically impossible to have sexual relations with only one twin at a time, since they have just one set of genitals between them. It was not going to happen, though, and as the reality of their options dawned on the girls in adulthood, they came to a rational decision: cash in. People are going to gawk at them anyway, they might as well get rich from it if they can….
Now comes the news that one of the twins, Abigail Hensel, got married and has been married for more than two years. Yikes. What’s that like? The HBO series “Tales from the Crypt” had a very funny episode about this situation, but the real life complications are mind-blowing, particular, as I noted in the earlier post, the twins share a single set of sex organs. They have to cooperate to live: one twin controls the left side of what appears to be their single body, the other controls the right side.
I assume, though there are no laws or court cases on this weird topic, that Brittany would have to consent to a marriage as well as any sexual relations with Abigail’s husband. I also assume that she could have blocked the marriage, or at least thrown up some legal roadblocks. What if she doesn’t like the guy? Of course, alienating the sister with whom you share a single set of arms, legs and kidneys (among other organs) is undeniably unwise, but still, that applies to Abigail as well. Surely Brittany had veto power, and nobly, generously, didn’t use it.
Abigail had a chance at something vaguely resembling a normal life, requiring Brittany to accept a nightmarish one—-do watch that “Tales from the Crypt” episode— (would it be unfair of me to suggest that “their” husband is a little..strange?), and out of love for her sister, she did.
Well, good for her. If that doesn’t make Brittany Hensel an ethics hero, then I don’t know what one is.
Ethics Alarms 
Sigh. I have always disliked freak shows, where morbid fascination prevents you from looking away from something that is justifiably considered repulsive or too weird. The most pitiable soul to be in that position was Joseph Merrick, the famous Elephant Man, once thought to be an extreme victim of neurofibromatosis (although I think recently that has been challenged). Even footage of him completely covered, limping down the hall of the hospital where he lived later in life, is enough to make you shudder, as you wonder what kind of horrible deformity he is hiding under that robe and mask. He was frankly almost impossible to look at uncovered, yet once you saw him it was also almost impossible to look away.
However, some of these unfortunate souls have been able to make great livings either using their disability, like a German armless man whose name I have forgotten, who learned to do pretty much everything with his feet, including playing the violin, which people would pay to see, or despite their disability, like German bass-baritone singer Thomas Quasthoff, a thalidomide baby, or the skydiving team of amputees called The Pieces of Eight. Who am I to oppose good old-fashioned capitalism?
This does make the unmarried twin some kind of hero. I think it also makes the other people involved heroes as well, since they are going to have to share their marriage with a third person, even the most intimate parts of it.
This raises LOADS of questions for their future.
What would happen to the 21st century woke crowd if Brittany chose to identify as a man and Abigail remained a female?
What if Brittany wanted to get identity affirming surgery and took Abigail to court to force the issue?
What if Abigail gets pregnant and wants to have the baby but Brittany does not and wants an abortion?
What happens if ends up wanting a divorce but Abigail does not?
Does Brittany or Abigail have the ultimate constitutional and/or moral rights to control what happens to the body? What would the court need to resolve this kind of issue?
Speaking of veto power, the “My body, my choice” advocates must conclude very easily that due to life-impacting hardships much worse than raising a child, either should have agency to choose to abort the “parasite” other?
There’s no competing potentially of a separate human life to balance the hardship against.
The parents of the twins have said that they considered having the twins separated but that the risks were too great. Seriously? What would be the objective, giving each one arm and one leg? The real amazing thing is that the girls weren’t allowed to die after birth, which is the usual course with severely deformed babies. (A physician friend of mine says this is a dark secret in the profession, and that the traditional response when a “monster” is born is the jocular, “Get the bucket!”
You have to watch that TFTC episode…
I just watched it, it’s funny!
They could just do Rock-Paper-Scissors in front of a judge.
“Abigail had a chance at something vaguely resembling a normal life, requiring Brittany to accept a nightmarish one…”
One must presume that Brittany does not think that this arrangement is a nightmare. My personal presumption is that this arrangement is probably tantamount to a kind of legal bigamy. The husband can’t in truth have sex with only one of them, and both twins would reap the physical/mental/emotional benefits, wouldn’t they?
Sounds like a win-win (so to speak) to me.
And regarding the future? No one gets any guarantees on that. The issue that comes to my mind is — what if one of them has a stroke and/or somehow becomes brain-dead? Or has some other mental/psychological/emotional breakdown. I don’t pretend to know anything about the physiology of their specific conjoined state, but I can’t help but wonder…
A twin-win?
On a day when I needed one…THAT got a chuckle!
PWS
I think it is fairly likely that both want to marry the same guy, but legally only one can. As you note, they both have to consent to everything they do.