Many would recognize Ashton Kutcher for his philanthropy, acting roles, and relationship with his family, including his wife, actress Mila Kunis and their children. But fans are seeing a completely different side of Ashton after he shared details about his private life and the health issues he faced during an interview on Paramount Plus’ documentary The Checkup with Dr. David Agus.
The series, which premiered on Dec. 6, showcased numerous celebrities candidly discussing the health struggles they are either going through or have experienced with Dr. David Agus. Dr. David Agus is a doctor and cancer specialist. In the premiere episode, Ashton was interviewed with his twin brother Michael Kutcher for the first time. The pair separately recounted their health experiences.
Ashton shared that his health scare began in November 2019 after he had trouble seeing, hearing, and walking. He said,
“I woke up one day was having vision issues, could hardly see. Knocked out my hearing. Which threw off my equilibrium, my balance and I couldn’t walk. I had vasculitis.”
In the show, Dr. David Agus, who is also Ashton’s personal doctor, describes vasculitis as a severe “autoimmune disease that attacks and inflames the blood vessels.” He added that vasculitis could cause the vessels’ walls to thicken and restrict blood flow. Dr. David Agus revealed that depending on where vasculitis targets, it can lead to several complications, including blood clots, organ damage, vision and hearing loss, etc.
Dr. David Agus went on to list other facts about the autoimmune disease, including that it could happen to anyone, it can last an unlimited amount of time, and it can be treated in numerous ways with “immuneosuppressive drugs” and chemotherapy.
Ashton, who continues to recover from vasculitis, shared that his secret to overcoming the autoimmune disease was having a positive outlook for the future.
Further in the interview, Ashton and Michael came together and talked about their upbringing. The pair revealed that their mother, Diane Kutcher, had no idea she was expecting twins because, in the original sonogram, the doctors only heard and saw Ashton. Following Ashton — who is five minutes older — and Michael’s birth on Feb. 7, 1978, the pair had a relatively normal childhood until Diane noticed a difference in Michael’s development when he was 3 years old.
Michael recounts his mother’s actions while revealing he has cerebral palsy,
“So about the age of the three, she [Diane] could just tell, and she was seeing him [Ashton] develop at a much like greater advanced pace than myself. Just some slowness, some motor-skill functionality was missing. Slurring some of my speech. She could really just see that there were differences and that I was lagging behind… So she would go and demand answers and the physician would kind of brush her off, say that I would catch up eventually. Finally she found an education center that helped her diagnose me with cerebral palsy.”
Cerebral palsy is a disorder that affects individuals’ mobility, balance, and posture. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention site, cerebral palsy “is the most common motor disability in childhood.” Individuals living with cerebral palsy may experience different symptoms depending on its severity.
The CDC revealed that someone with severe cerebral palsy is either unable to walk or will need assistance with walking. At the same time, individuals with mild cerebral palsy may walk “awkwardly.” Michael shared that despite his condition, his family — including Ashton — never treated him differently. He also disclosed that when kids in school would exclude him from activities or make fun of him because of his condition, Ashton went above and beyond to protect him.
The conversation then shifted to Michael’s near-death experience, which occurred when the pair was in junior high school. Michael revealed that he was 13 years old when he was diagnosed with myocarditis and needed a heart transplant. Myocarditis is a condition that causes the heart to grow beyond its standard size and weaken its abilities. According to John Hopkins Medicine, the causes of myocarditis can vary, but the most common is “an infection in the body.”
As Ashton recalled visiting Michael in the hospital, he revealed that he witnessed his brother’s heart stop temporarily. He said,
“He flatlines in the room. And I know that noise because now I’ve been visiting occasionally and watching the thing go and then it flatlines out, and they’re like, you’ve got to dun dun dun and they’re grabbing me and they take me out.”
Later, Ashton claimed after seeing Michael flatline in the ICU, he considered taking his own life by jumping off a balcony to save his brother because he knew he would be a match. The That’s 70s Show star’s initial plan would cease because Michael would get a heart donor.
Michael shared that two years after the procedure, doctors discovered he had a blood clot and was forced to undergo open-heart surgery which later turned out to be a success. During this time, Ashton began his career in the entertainment industry as a model and transitioned to acting. Ashton expressed as his career began to pick up, that he felt guilty for achieving success while his brother had health issues.
The Just Married star disclosed that those feelings would be short-lived after Michael visited him in New York and confronted him. He said,
“There was a moment in all this when I moved to New York and was like starting to get some traction with my career and Mike came out to visit and stay. He looked at me and he said, ‘every time you feel sorry for me, you make me less.’ He said, ‘this is the only life I’ve ever known, so stop feeling sorry for the only thing I have.’ And that then created an entire shift back to where I think we are today, which is straight-up equals again.”
Toward the end of the interview, Michael shared that his relationship with Ashton would hit a rough patch after he became jealous of the newfound attention his brother was receiving and because the actor revealed his condition to the world without informing him first. The twins would ultimately fix their relationship. Since then, Michael has become an advocate for individuals with a disability.