Angelina Jolie removes ovaries, fallopian tubes to save life

Oscar-winning Hollywood star, Angelina Jolie, has had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed as a preventative measure against cancer.

Jolie carries a ‘faulty’ gene, called BRCA1, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Her doctors estimated she had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer in her lifetime unless she underwent surgery – which she did last week.

“It is not easy to make these decisions,” she wrote in the New York Times.

“But it is possible to take control and tackle head-on any health issue.”

The actress, married to Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, decided to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after a check-up two weeks ago.

“I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt. I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn’t live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren,” Jolie wrote.

“I called my husband in France, who was on a plane within hours. The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarising, and it is peaceful.”

Her mother, grandmother and aunt all died of the disease.

“My doctors indicated I should have preventive surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer in my female relatives,” she wrote.

In 2013, the award-winning actress had both breasts removed to cut her risk of breast cancer and now two years later, she has had both ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

These preventive steps greatly decrease her lifetime risk of cancer, but the surgery does not completely guarantee that cancer will not develop – it is impossible to remove all of the at-risk tissues.

She also wrote about the procedure of the surgery.

“It is a less complex surgery than the mastectomy, but its effects are more severe. It puts a woman into forced menopause.”

Jolie will now take hormone replacements.

“Regardless of the hormone replacements I’m taking, I am now in menopause,” Jolie said.

“I will not be able to have any more children, and I expect 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.

“It is not possible to remove all risk, and the fact is I remain prone to cancer. I will look for natural ways to strengthen my immune system. I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family.

“I know my children will never have to say: Mom died of ovarian cancer.”

Jolie has six children – three of whom are adopted.