New York - Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer. Explaining her reasons for the surgery, the 37-year-old mother of six 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," she wrote in the New York Times. 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 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 said that once she "knew that this was my reality", she had taken the decision to undergo the nine weeks of complex surgery required to have a double mastectomy. Her chances of developing breast cancer have now dropped from 87% to under 5%, she said. 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 said. "For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options," Ms Jolie went on to say. "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." Ms Jolie has three biological children and three adopted children with Brad Pitt. (FA)
