A lot of talk lately has surrounded Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy, the choices that led to it and the condition that made it necessary. But a lot of attention has also been devoted to the sneakiest part of the story: the big coverup. Obviously a very close-knitt family, you better believe the Jolie-Pitts wanted to keep this one private, and with numerous spy and secret agent roles under their belts, the high profile pair probably picked up a thing or two.

"They really wanted Angie to be able to recover and rest before they shared the story," an unidentified family insider told People magazine.

According to the mag, the family took to early morning medical appointments and untraceable rental cars, in order to avoid suspicion during the three grueling months of operations. And while, to an outsider the whole thing might seem a bit like overkill, recent stories coming out of Hollywood about stalkers, paps filming in people’s backyards and celebrity tracking websites that aid high-profile robberies have proven that the extra precautions were probably necessary during what was already a difficult time for the family.

Angelina Jolie, Women in the World Summit
Angelina had the support of her family throughout the ordeal.

Now that Angelina has revealed the entire ordeal in a much talked about Times op-ed, however, the family has been receiving unparalleled amounts of attention. Besides the standard interviews and articles, there have also been snaps of the doting parents taking their six children out on daytrips, to museums and even of Angelina and the kids visiting the set of Brad’s new movie, World War Z.

Brad Pitt, New York
Brad Pitt stood by Angelina's side through the three months of operations.