When born, the doctors said conjoined twins Abigail and Brittany Hensel wouldn't survive more than a few hours. Now they're 22 and have their own reality TV show.

The show, Abby and Brittany, which premiered in the US this week, charts their remarkable life together.

The Hensel twins were born on March 7, 1990 in Minnesota to Patty, a registered nurse, and Mike, a carpenter and landscaper.

The pair share a body but have separate hearts, lungs and stomachs. They share the same liver, arms and legs, with each responsible for one side of their body.

One set of twins in every 40,000 is born connected in some way to each other and only 1 per cent of those survive beyond the first year, the Daily Mail reported.

The twins have appeared briefly in the public eye before, appearing on the cover of Life magazine when they were six and following that up with an appearance on Oprah in their teens.

However, till now they have mostly kept out of the public eye.

The show's first episode reveals that have just graduated with masters degrees in education and features them talking about their search for a job, according to US reports.

The pair say on the show that they know they're likely to get the one wage but they'd like to see that addressed in the future.

"Considering we have two degrees, and because we are able to give two different perspectives or teach in two different ways," the Huffington Post reported them as saying.

The show has been well received, with the New York Daily News encouraging people to look beyond the obvious.

"As episodes pass, that [curiosity] will very likely turn to admiration.''

- © Fairfax NZ News

Comments