Brian Austin Green just became a father of five boys, and he has big plans for them. He spoke with Fox News Digital about how his perspective as a father has changed over the years and the kind of men he hopes his five sons will grow up to be.
He had his oldest son Kassius Lijah Marcil-Green with his then girlfriend Vanessa Marcil in 2002 before the couple broke up in 2003. He then welcomed three more boys with Megan Fox: Noah, Bhodi and Journey Green, and recently welcomed baby Zane with his girlfriend Sharna Burges.
Greene revealed his initial excitement about becoming a father revolved around the idea of having a mini version of himself and teaching his son all the things he likes to do. He admitted to pushing a lot of his likes onto his first son, but after seeing how different his three sons with Fox were, his perspective began to change.
"The situation with Megan and those three kids was really the coolest for me to see because the kids are so close in age and they were raised, for the most part, pretty much the same, but they are so different. They're such completely different people, the three of them," Green explained.
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Green revealed that through watching them grow up, he learned it is not his job to try and make his children a certain way, and instead learned to embrace their differences. Brian's top priority as a father now is to make them "feel loved and supported for their passions and what they're into and who they are."
Most of all, he hopes his sons grow up to be kind and go through the world able to put themselves in other people’s shoes to help them.
"I want them to have great communication skills and I want them to be sympathetic and empathetic, and I want them to approach life in as loving a way as possible and be kind to other people," Green said.
When it comes to his newest arrival, Green is "so excited to see who he becomes." At 49 years old, he says he has "really not mastered this game, but (is) getting pretty close to it."
Green also spoke about his partnership with Depend in their third annual Stand Strong for Men’s Health campaign, fighting the stigma surrounding men getting tested for prostate cancer. He claimed that although it is a treatable cancer, some men find out too late and treatment becomes more difficult, something which can be attributed to the stigma around getting tested.
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"It affects like one in eight men. Women (have) absolutely led the charge in health care and taking care of themselves in screening for things, and I think men have this attitude of like, ‘oh, I feel fine, I'm a guy. I feel okay, I'll go to the doctor when I'm not feeling good,’" he said. "Well, you could be like well past the point of needing to."
He then spoke about a new test which he thinks will help remove the stigma. The PSA test is a blood test which takes less than five minutes and tests for prostate cancer as well as 50 other illnesses, with the results coming the following day.
His passion for men’s health stems from a health crisis of his own.
"I was under the same mentality that most men are like, I don't need this, I'm good, you know, I feel fine. I, I eat well, I work out, I do things, I'm active. There's no worries for me," he said. "And then all of a sudden, I started dealing with ulcerative colitis and I dealt with neurological issues for a little while."
"Man, I'm, not as strong as I thought that I was, and I can't necessarily deal with these things myself, you know?"
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Green compared the stigma surrounding prostate cancer to the lack of stigma with breast cancer, and since the rate of infection is pretty much the same, the testing numbers should reflect that. He says it should be looked at any other doctor’s appointment.
"It should be something as simple to me as the same way you talk about going to a dentist. Oh, I went to the doctor. I did a blood draw. I'm good on prostate cancer," he explained. "That's another year of sitting back and feeling like, okay, I'm being as proactive as I can be."
"PCF is grateful for the Depend® brand's Stand Strong for Men's Health™ initiative, which helps fund life-saving research that contributes to detecting and treating prostate cancer," Dr. Charles Ryan, President and CEO of The Prostate Cancer Foundation said in a statement. "Deciding to screen and ultimately treat prostate cancer is a highly personal decision. Education and research are vital in determining the best path forward for both the doctor and patient."
Green added that it’s "silly" that men still don’t get tested, "because it's become so easy to do."
