They go shopping with their parents and younger brother and sister, attend school and even play in Little League T-ball games. But until recently when their parents opened their doors and hearts to a Life magazine reporter and photographer, the twins have been shielded from media attention. Their touching story, which appears on the cover of Life's April issue, has made them instant celebrities. But the girls are more than curiosities. And their tale of lives unpunctuated by solitude has much to teach all of us about the real meaning of individuality and the limitless power of human cooperation.
Conjoined twins are a rare event in the world's delivery rooms.
Connections at the chest and abdomen are the most frequent configuration for conjoined twins, though medical texts list more than a dozen possible permutations. Dicephalic twins like the Hensels, who have two heads but share one two-legged body, are among the rarest. Only three or four cases are on record. Patty and Mike Hensel had no idea what they were in for when Patty's first pregnancy came to term six years ago. A spunky, attractive emergency-room nurse, Patty, now 37, had no signs that there was anything unusual about her pregnancy.