THE husband of conjoined twin Abby Hensel was served a paternity suit almost two years after he married Abby, court documents reveal.
Joshua Bowling, 34, was married to Annica Bowling, 33, for 9 years before the couple separated in 2019.
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Joshua’s new wife, Abby, and her twin, Brittany Hensel, are known for their reality TV series on TLC, called Abby and Brittany.
The rare set of dicephalous twins share one body, a bloodstream, and all their organs below the waist.
Abby controls their right arm and leg while Brittany controls the left side.
The twins made headlines again last week when it emerged that Abby married Joshua, a US Army veteran and nurse, in a private ceremony in 2021.
JOSHUA’S PREVIOUS MARRIAGE
Two years after Joshua and Abby’s wedding, Joshua was hit with a paternity case.
It was filed by Joshua’s ex-wife, Annica, in a Minnesota court in October 2023, according to documents obtained by The New York Post.
The documents showed that Annica and Joshua share joint custody of their child, Isabella, 8, after they separated in April 2019.
The paternity case could involve Annica’s second child, who is 3 and was born in 2020 but it is currently unclear from the court docs, the New York Post reported.
Divorce papers between Annica and Joshua name Annica’s youngest daughter as Isabella’s half-sister, according to The Post.
The most recent development in the case came on March 7, 2024, when a “genetic test report” was entered into the court file.
Further information about the filing was not publicly available.
WEDDING TO ABBY
Abby and Brittany first gained public attention in 1996, when the then-6-year-olds appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Their TLC reality series, an eight-part program, aired in 2012.
The conjoined twins have kept their life more private recently after it was very publicized during their popular TV show.
Last week, it emerged that Abby married Joshua in 2021.
Photos from the wedding were shared on social media pages run by the twins with Abby and Brittany seen dressed in a white gown on the big day.
Abby and Brittany always knew they wanted to find love and have children one day.
In a 2003 interview for the documentary Joined for Life, when the twins were 16, they were asked if they wanted to have kids.
What Are Conjoined Twins?
Such twins develop after an early embryo only partially separates to create two individual fetuses and this is usually diagnosed early in pregnancy with a prenatal ultrasound.
This happens once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The majority of these are female and most are still born.
The majority of conjoined twins are connected at the chest and abdomen, but others can be connected at the head, hips, pelvis, legs, or genitalia.
Conjoined twins often share one or more of the internal organs and this impacts survival rates and the success of separation surgery.
Twins with separate sets of organs are more likely to survive than those who share.
Their mom, Patty, said at the time, “That is probably something that could work because those organs do work for them.”
Brittany added that both sisters wanted to be moms.
“Yeah, we’re going to be moms,” Brittany said.
“We haven’t thought about how being moms is going to work yet.
“But we’re just 16.
“We don’t need to think about that right now.”
TWINS SPEAK OUT
Abby and Brittany appeared to respond to recent conversation online about Abby’s marriage with a post on March 29.
They shared a still photo with text over it in a clip on TikTok.
The conjoined twins, 34, were seen wearing a blue dress with their arms wrapped around Josh.
An AI-generated voice said, “This is a message to all the haters out there.
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“If you don’t like what I do, but you watch everything that I’m doing you’re still a fan.”
The U.S. Sun contacted Abby and Brittany for comment on the paternity suit.
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