Angelina Jolie kept her double mastectomy so private that even her father Jon Voight didn’t realize she had underwent the operation until her public announcement on Tuesday. Voight spoke to the Daily News about his daughter’s shocking announcement.
"My love and admiration for my daughter can't be explained in words. I saw her two days ago with my son Jamie. We all got together for his birthday, with her and Brad [Pitt]. But I didn't know. It wasn't obvious at all,” Voight said.
"I found out [Tuesday] morning. I was as surprised as anyone and deeply moved by the way she’s handled this,” he added. “She's a very extraordinary person, the way she examined it and what she shared.”
Jolie revealed the double mastectomy in an op-ed article for the New York Times. The surgery was done to reduce her chances of developing breast cancer. Jolie revealed that a “faulty gene” known as BRCA1 gave her “an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.”
“Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy,” Jolie wrote. “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 actress, 37, began the series of procedures on February 2 and completed them on April 27. “I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer,” she said.
Jolie also praised her partner Brad Pitt for his support. “I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has,” she added. “For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.”
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