HOLLYWOOD superstar Angelina Jolie today revealed she recently underwent a double mastectomy because she feared she would contract cancer.
The actress, 37, said genetic tests determined she had an 87 per cent chance of being hit with the breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer.
The mum-of-six said she made the decision for her family after her children asked her if she was going meet the same fate as their tragic grandmother.
Angelina’s mum Marcheline Bertrand’s died of ovarian cancer in 2007 aged just 57.
She began the procedures to have both breasts removed on February and said her husband Brad Pitt, 49, was at her side for all of her surgeries.
She said her chances of contracting breast cancer has now been reduced to five per cent.
Angelina wrote about her decision – which had been kept secret until now – in the New York Times on Tuesday in a bid to help other women.
She wrote: “My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56.