Angelina Jolie Speaks Out in Rare Comment About Her Preventive Double Mastectomy and Ovary Removal

Angelina Jolie spoke out in a rare comment about the preventative double mastectomy and ovary removal she chose to undergo after discovering she carried a rare gene.

“I did choose to have that [surgery] because I lost my mother and my grandmother very young,” Jolie, 50, explained in an interview with a news outlet published on October 7.

Jolie decided in 2013 to undergo a double mastectomy after losing her mother and aunt to b----- and ovarian cancer. The decision came after the actress learned through a genetic test that she carried a rare mutated BRCA1 gene, also known as the b----- cancer gene, predisposing her to the possibility of developing the disease.

Two years later, the Maleficent actress removed her ovaries and fallopian tubes after a cancer scare.

“I have the BRCA gene, so I chose to have a double mastectomy a decade ago. And then I’ve also had my ovaries removed, because that’s what took my mother,” she told the outlet. “Those are my choices. I don’t say everybody should do it that way, but it’s important to have the choice. And I don’t regret it.”

In Jolie’s latest film, Couture, she portrays Maxine, a woman facing a b----- cancer diagnosis, who also becomes romantically involved with a work colleague, in the high-stakes world of haute couture.

“I think it’s not really a film about fashion; it’s a film about the fragility of life,” she said of the movie’s message. “Fashion, to me, is a metaphor for the world of appearances; a world where you have to hide your wounds.”

Jolie previously opened up about her decision to undergo a preventative surgery in an emotional essay for Time in 2019. She explained that her decision stemmed from “improving her odds” to see her children growing into adults and eventually meet her grandchildren. Jolie shares six children – Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne – with her ex-husband Brad Pitt.

“My hope is to give as many years as I can to their lives, and to be here for them. I have lived over a decade now without a mom. She met only a few of her grandchildren and was often too sick to play with them” she wrote. “It’s hard now for me to consider anything in this life divinely guided when I think of how much their lives would have benefited from time with her and the protection of her love and grace. My mother fought the disease for a decade and made it into her 50s. My grandmother died in her 40s. I’m hoping my choices allow me to live a bit longer.”