American actor and UN ambassador Angelina Jolie revealed that she has had to undergo a double mastectomy to reduce her risks of getting breast cancer.
The 37-year-old mother of six explained her reasons for having the surgery in an article she wrote in the New York Times.
| Actor and UN Ambassador Angelina Jolie. |
She said her doctors estimated she had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer. "I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could," wrote Angelina.
She said the process began in February and was completed by the end of April.
In an article entitled My Medical Choice, Ms Jolie explained that her mother fought cancer for nearly a decade but lost the battle with it and died at the age of 56.
She said she had sought to reassure her children that the same illness would not take her away from them, "but the truth is I carry a 'faulty' gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer".
She says Her chances of developing breast cancer have now dropped from 87% to under 5%.
She praised her partner, Brad Pitt, for his love and support throughout the procedure, and said she was reassured that her children had found nothing in the results "that makes them uncomfortable".
"I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity," she Jolie.
"For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options," Ms Jolie continued.
"I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices."
The award-winning actress and director is also a long-time supporter of humanitarian causes.
During the period she was undergoing the double mastectomy procedure, Ms Jolie visited the Democratic Republic of Congo with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague - and attended the G8 summit of foreign ministers in London to raise awareness over sexual violence in conflicts.
She also helped launch a charity to fund girls' education set up by the Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai who was shot by the Taliban last October.
Jolie together with Brad Pitt have three biological children and three adopted children.
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