Last night TLC rolled out the reality red carpet for aunt Honey Boo Boo and while they were at it they also loaded up a sneak-peek video for another new show, Abby & Brittany.
If you’re not familiar with their story, Abigail and Brittany Hensel are conjoined twins. The 22-year-olds are no stranger to the spotlight as they’ve been featured in Life magazine and on Oprah.
Check out the first look at their show:
The sisters were born on March 7th, 1990 in Carver County, Minnesota. They have a younger brother and sister. According to Wikipedia, Brittany and Abby:
…are dicephalic parapagus twins, meaning that they are conjoined twins of whom each has a separate head, but whose bodies are joined. They are highly symmetric, giving the appearance of having just a single body with little variation from normal proportion. In fact, several vital organs are doubled up, each twin having a separate heart, stomach, spine and spinal cord.
Each twin controls her half of their body, operating one of the arms and one of the legs. This means that as infants, the initial learning of physical processes that required bodily coordination, such as clapping, crawling, and walking required the cooperation of both children. While each is able to eat and write separately and simultaneously, activities such as running and swimming must be coordinated and alternate symmetrically. Other activities as diverse as brushing hair and driving a car require that each twin perform a sequence of quite separate actions that coordinate with the other.
Here is the inspiring cover of Life featuring the sisters:
Following the birth, their parents refused the option of separation when doctors informed them that it was highly unlikely that both would survive. At the age of 16 they were featured on TLC and the clip below from that piece on YouTube has over 40 million views! People are certainly interested in Abby and Brittany’s unique story:
The show will premiere on Tuesday August, 28th at 10PM EST.
