Conjoined Twins Spark Heated Debate After Revealing They Paid Double College Fees but Earn Only One Salary

Abby and Brittany Hensel, 34-year-old conjoined twins, are making history as elementary school teachers. A decade after graduating from college, they have triumphed over numerous challenges related to their unique condition. Although they share one body, each twin has her own head, heart, stomach, spine, and lungs.

Look how lovely they are.

Abby and Brittany graduated from university nearly ten years ago, and since then, they’ve been making an impact — not only for their teaching abilities but also for their innovative approach to compensation. Born conjoined with a rare condition known as dicephalic parapagus twinning, the twins have thrived in their teaching careers.

They each have their own hearts, stomachs, spines, and lungs, and have worked together seamlessly to teach math to fourth and fifth graders at an elementary school since 2013. What truly sets them apart is their impressive coordination and academic accomplishments.

Because of their unique situation, Abby and Brittany developed a special arrangement regarding their salary.

"Obviously, right away, we understand that we are going to get one salary because we're doing the job of one person," Abby told BBC in 2013. "As maybe experience comes in, we'd like to negotiate a little bit, considering we have two degrees and because we are able to give two different perspectives or teach in two different ways," she added.

When they first began their teaching careers, Abby and Brittany agreed to a single salary, understanding that they were performing the duties of one individual.

But here's the interesting part: despite being conjoined, Abby and Brittany are regarded as individuals within the school system, each holding their own degrees. The sisters, whose parents always encouraged them to think independently, both graduated from Bethel University in 2012 with degrees in education. They did consider specializing in different subjects but ultimately decided against it due to the additional coursework it would require.

In high school, Abby and Brittany paid only one set of tuition fees but were required to cover two sets of registration fees, as reported by the NY Daily News. During exams, teachers would occasionally place “a sheet or a book in between them” to prevent them from copying. They encounter a similar situation when traveling — they each have their own passport but only need one plane ticket, as they occupy just one seat.

And here's a remarkable story of conjoined twins who shared a liver and were successfully separated after a high-risk surgery.