Angelina Jolie revealed that she has undergone a preventive double mastectomy, in an opinion piece she wrote on Tuesday. In the article called “My Medical Choice”, she explained the she underwent the breast removal procedure to mutate the BRCA1 gene that’s known to raise a woman’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
In her piece, she explained:
My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.
The process began in February when she underwent a “nipple delay” procedure to make sure there is no breast cancer behind the nipple. The entire procedure was complete on April 27, including breast reconstruction with an implant.
“I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy,” she wrote. “But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”
It’s an extremely bold move by the beautiful actress. Now we wonder if this will end up becoming a trend like double-eyelid surgery has.
