Life can be difficult when you grow up close to your siblings. It is especially difficult when you are a conjoined twin.
Brittany and Abby Hensel have been close to each other since birth. The 34-year-old girls are conjoined twins, but they continue to break down any barriers and let people know that they are unique individuals.
Something interesting that happened with these twins is they went to college. That was a decade ago, and despite the fact that they had some challenges, they were able to overcome them.
Both Abby and Britney graduated about 10 years ago from University. They have used their awesome skills as teachers since that time, and they have a view on compensation that is unique, to say the least.
When they were born, they had a rare condition known as dicephalic parapagus twinning. Each of the twins has their own heart, spine, stomach, and lungs but they are still joined and share almost everything else.
They have done quite well as teachers, but they have a different type of arrangement when it comes to their compensation for doing a job. Abby said: “Obviously, right away, we understand that we are going to get one salary because we’re doing the job of one person. 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.”
They knew that they would be doing the job of one person so they agreed to one salary. There’s something, however, that doesn’t sit right with everyone.
When Abby and Britney were part of the school system, they were considered as individuals and they each have their own degrees. Their parents even encouraged them to think for themselves, so they each got their own degree when they graduated from Bethel University in 2012.
At one point, they did think about pursuing different majors but they knew that it would be a lot more work to do so.
In addition, they only paid one set of tuition fees in high school but they paid two registration fees. Their teachers would sometimes even put a sheet in between them during exams so they wouldn’t cheat off of each other.
In addition, they paid their own tuition at University, so essentially they paid twice but they are only getting paid once for the job they do.
That being said, they seem to be happy with the way things are in life and that’s really what matters.