Angelina Jolie Children: 'Maleficent' Actress Writes Essay About Having Ovaries and Fallopian Tubes Removed
Angelina Jolie told the public that she had a preventative double mastectomy two years ago. Now, the actress revealed she has had an operation to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes, USAToday reports.
In an essay written for The New York Times, Jolie says she had been planning the surgery for "some time." She thought she had time to prepare for it "physically and emotionally," but doctors told her that tests showed an increase in inflammatory markers and she would need it sooner than later.
"That same day I went to see the surgeon, who had treated my mother. I last saw her the day my mother passed away, and she teared up when she saw me: 'You look just like her.' I broke down. But we smiled at each other and agreed we were there to deal with any problem, so "let's get on with it," Jolie said.
Jolie chose to have the double mastectomy in 2013 when a blood test showed she had an estimated 87 percent chance of breast cancer and a 50 percent chance of ovarian cancer.
There was some criticism for Jolie's 2013 surgery. The medical community urged caution for women before they took Jolie's lead. Jolie wanted to urge women that her ovaries surgery was not meant to be something that women should necessarily follow.
"I did not do this solely because I carry the BRCA1 gene mutation, and I want other women to hear this," she wrote. "A positive BRCA test does not mean a leap to surgery."
"In my case, the Eastern and Western doctors I met agreed that surgery to remove my tubes and ovaries was the best option, because on top of the BRCA gene, three women in my family have died from cancer," she added.
Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, was one of the three who died of cancer. Bertrand died at the age of 56 after battling ovarian cancer for almost 10 years.
Jolie said she decided to keep her uterus because there was no family history of cancer there.
Last week, Jolie had the laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, she said. Doctors did find a small benign tumor on one ovary, but no cancer was present in any of the tissues.
Jolie is currently taking hormone replacements and is now in menopause. She accepts that she will not be able to have any more children and expects some physical changes.
"But I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared."
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