Two years ago, Angelina made headlines when she announced her choice to have a preventive double mastectomy. Now, the mother of six reveals she has also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, after a routine blood test showed possible signs of early cancer.
“I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt. I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn’t live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren,” she wrote in The New York Times.
Angelina previously revealed she carries a mutation in the BRCA1 gene that increased her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Tragically, the Unbroken director lost her grandmother, mother and aunt to cancer, and that influenced her decision to go ahead and have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
As a result, Angelina is now in forced menopause and will no longer be able to have more children. However, she writes, she feels secure in her decision.
“It is not possible to remove all risk, and the fact is I remain prone to cancer,” she wrote in her latest New York Times op-ed.
“I will look for natural ways to strengthen my immune system. I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family. I know my children will never have to say, ‘Mom died of ovarian cancer.'”
Brad and Ange with their children Pax, Zahara, Knox, Shiloh and Maddox on the red carpet
