Angelina Jolie recently underwent major surgery in a preventative move that the actress hopes will dramatically lower her chances of developing cancer later her life. The actress subjected herself to three months worth of medical procedures including having a double mastectomy and her breast surgically reconstructed in a bid to avoid developing breast cancer, the actress revealed in today’s (May 14) New York Times.
Jolie hasn't suddenly become a hypochondriac though, as the preventative surgery was done to combat what would have been an inevitability. Jolie is genetically predisposed to develop breast cancer, the disease that killed her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, but after having her procedure the actress' chances of developing the disease have been dramatically slashed to less than 5%.

Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie managed to keep her surgery completely underwraps until now


In her frank yet revealing account of her surgical procedures, which was completed on April 27 this year, the actress explained her fears not just of dying, but because she would leave her children motherless. She goes on to explain that she chose to have her breasts surgically removed because she carries a “faulty” gene that puts her at an 87% risk of developing breast cancer. The gene also places her at risk for ovarian cancer. She said, “My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56,” before adding, “I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”
The actress goes on to thank her husband, fellow A-lister Brad Pitt, for his tremendous support through the difficult procedures and went on to urge more women to have their genes checked to ensure they don't carry the same cancerous threat that she does. Although acknowledging that most women don't have such life-saving procedures readily available to then, like she does, but it should still be a priority for all women. “It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing,” she wrote.

Brad and Ange
Angelina thanked her husband, Brad Pitt, for his support