A star for more than twenty years, Ashton Kutcher has had a successful career as both an actor and venture capitalist. Does Kutcher have any siblings and is he a twin?
Ashton Kutcher has a fraternal twin brother, Michael Kutcher. Michael was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy as a child and received a heart transplant as a teenager. Today, he is a public speaker and advocates for children living with Cerebral Palsy, as well as encouraging organ donation.
For more about Ashton Kutcher’s brother, Michael, read on.
Ashton & Michael
Christopher Ashton and Michael Kutcher were born on February 7, 1978, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The pair are fraternal twins, meaning they are the result of a pregnancy caused by the fertilization of two eggs at the same time.
This is in contrast to identical twins, where a single egg is fertilized and divides into two, which then both develop into two offspring. This means that, despite being twins, Ashton and Michael are not identical.
They also have an older sister, Tausha, and were raised in a “relatively conservative” Catholic family.
Michael was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) at three years old. Cerebral Palsy is the most common motor disability in children and is caused by abnormal brain development, meaning their brain can’t fully send signals to their muscles.
The disorder varies greatly from person to person, from affecting one area of the body to severely impacting every limb. Many people with CP possess their full mental faculties, with only their ability to use their body affected.
It is often present in people with intellectual disabilities but this isn’t always the case. CP does not increase in severity in a person’s lifetime but symptoms can vary. Michael Kutcher, for example, has his full mental faculties despite suffering from CP since early childhood.
Michael’s physical development was significantly affected by CP and, after contracting a virus at 13, he endured heart failure. This was caused by viral cardiomyopathy, a condition that made his heart swell to four times normal size.
Michael was initially given three to four weeks to live but went into cardiac arrest and this was shortened to 48 hours. Ashton even said he would give his heart to Michael, willing to sacrifice his life to save his twin brother.
Thankfully, Michael’s life was saved by a last-minute heart transplant from a donor. Surviving this terrible ordeal gave him the resolve to take control of his future.
Michael went to college, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and Finance from Mount Mercy University, a Catholic university in his hometown of Cedar Rapids.
Michael’s Advocacy
Today, Michael Kutcher is a public speaker, sharing his inspirational story and encouraging others that they can also live a full and rewarding life in spite of adversity.
He also advocates for Cerebral Palsy research and encourages organ donation. There’s probably no better spokesman for organ donation than a man who has already lived an extra three decades thanks to a heart transplant.
He has been an Assistant Vice President for Transamerica, offering life and health insurance. Financial smarts must run in the family, as Ashton Kutcher has also enjoyed success as a venture capitalist in recent years.
Michael is a keen traveler who enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf. He isn’t bitter about the difficulties he has faced in life, even telling Ashton that he felt his brother “made [him] less” whenever he felt sorry for him.
Michael believes that not everybody is created perfectly equal but this is part of what presents people with different opportunities in life. Without his personal struggles, he wouldn’t have found his “purpose” in advocating for Cerebral Palsy sufferers and organ transplants.
While he acknowledges that Ashton was born with physical advantages over his twin, he feels that the challenges in his life have also given him unique opportunities.