Angelina Jolie‘s double mastectomy was apparently just the beginning. The Oscar winner’s ovaries are coming out too, according to People magazine. She implied as much in the New York Times op-ed in which she revealed she had a double mastectomy after learning she carries a “faulty” BRCA1 gene.
That trait could dramatically increase her risk for breast and ovarian cancers, which she is determined to prevent, no matter the physical toll.
“I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex,” the star wrote. But her medical odyssey is not done.
She still faces a high risk of ovarian cancer, which claimed her mom’s life at age 56, and which her doctors say she has a 50 percent chance of getting. Some doctors recommend patients undergo the surgery by age 40 or when a woman is done having kids, though it may trigger early menopause.
Angelina Jolie is 37 and has six children. She says she plans to get the ovaries out ASAP, but it’s unclear what that means. For now, though, the star and her fiancé, Brad Pitt, are focused on family.
The two have been focused on maintaining a sense of routine for their kids, keeping up family traditions and holidays even as Jolie was undergoing treatment.
Pitt called her heroic in a recent statement. In the weeks surrounding the double mastectomy surgeries, “life was normal” for the children, says a source, and they didn’t notice anything amiss.
Adds a family insider: “Her kids always come first to her.
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