Two years after actress Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy, she revealed in an op-ed in the New York Times that she has had to make another difficult decision to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
The actress, who is vocal about a number of social and political issues, is choosing to educate the public once more after her recent medical scare. Just months after marrying Brad Pitt, Jolie recently received a call from her doctors informing her that a recent blood test showed markers that could be a sign of early ovarian cancer. Jolie carries the BRCA1 gene mutation that predisposes her to cancer, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.
"I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt," Jolie, 39, writes. "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."
"The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful," the mother of six added.
Jolie — who lost her mother, grandmother and aunt to cancer — decided to take preventive measures and underwent a procedure called a "laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy." This means she is now in menopause and can no longer have any more children.
She revealed that having the surgery doesn't remove all risk, but it's a decision she had to make.
"It is not easy to make these decisions. But it is possible to take control and tackle head-on any health issue… Knowledge is power," she says. "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.' "
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