The husband of conjoined twin Abby Hensel has received the verdict of the paternity lawsuit filed against him.
It was revealed recently that Josh Bowling, 34, quietly married Abby - a 34-year-old twin who shares her bloodstream and organs below the waist with her sibling Brittany.
While the dicephalus conjoined sisters have two hearts, Abby controls their right arm and leg, while Brittany controls their left-hand side.
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The pair first rose to fame after appearing on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996. They later fronted their heartwarming TLC reality series, Abby & Brittany.
During the programme, the fifth-grade teachers discussed navigating relationships as conjoined twins and documented their travels around the US and Europe.
Years later, the pair have found themselves back in the limelight as public records revealed that Abby was married.
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In legislation retrieved by Today, it was announced that former army medic Bowling and Abby had tied the knot back in 2021.
Photographs of the happy couple have since surfaced across social media.
Following the reveal of their marriage, it has been disclosed that Bowling has been the subject of a paternity suit.
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A lawsuit, filed by his former wife Annica Bowling in October 2023, requested that he and another man called Gavin Vatnsdal submit DNA tests.
Annica, whom Bowling was married to for nine years, shares her eight-year-old daughter Isabella with her ex-husband.
According to the New York Post, the couple has joint custody of their child following their split in 2019.
After their divorce was finalised in April 2020, Annica gave birth to another child later that year.
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In a recent paternity filing, she claimed that Bowling may have been the one to father the three-year-old.
On Friday (April 19), the Minnesota District Court in Washington County worked to determine paternity after genetic results were entered into the file on March 7, 2024.
As per The Post, the representative of Vatnsdal admitted that his client was the child's father - not Bowling.
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Speaking about the result, Vatnsdal’s attorney, Gregory Seamon, said: “It’s not Mr Bowling’s child. It’s my client’s child.”
Judge Siv Mjanger, who was ruling over the hearing, added: “I think all the parties agree that Mr Vatnsdal should be the adjudicated father and Mr Bowling should be discharged and taken off the birth certificate.”
“I can grant that motion”.
Back in 2003, Abby and Brittany’s mom, Patty Hensel, revealed that her daughters would probably be interested in having children of their own one day.
Speaking as part of the Joined for Life documentary, the Minnesota native said: “That is probably something that could work because those organs do work for them.”
Brittany has previously agreed with the sentiment, saying “Yeah, we're going to be moms.
“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.”
Bowling, Abby and Brittany currently reside in Minnesota, where the twins grew up.
Topics: US News, Parenting, Sex and Relationships
Ella Scott