Angelina Jolie’s Preventative Ovarian Surgery Praised by Cancer Survivors, Fans, Doctors

Social media users, commenters, patients and medical experts praise the star’s choice and openness

Angelina Jolie‘s decision to reveal a recent surgery in combating the development of cancer has the medical community, survivors and fans praising her in the press and on social media.

The actress and director penned an op-ed for The New York Times on Tuesday, detailing a decision to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes, after a blood test pointed to potential early signs of cancer. Jolie underwent a similarly preventative procedure, a double-mastectomy, in May 2013 to prevent breast cancer.

Though the procedure forces the “Maleficent” star into early menopause and means she can no longer have children, Jolie said: “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.’”

Reactions from cancer survivors, fans and the medical community have been largely positive, praising her choice and sharing of the journey.

“Thank you for your efforts to educate women and your courage in sharing it publicly,” wrote a NYT commenter named Rachel from Brooklyn.

“Ms. Jolie Pitt is a remarkable individual who is to be applauded for sharing with the world her experiences. In doing so, she has almost certainly saved more lives than any single physician may in a lifetime of practice. Thank you for your honesty and the education you have provided women everywhere,” said commenter RobertMassMD.

“I only wish Mum had had this choice way back in the 1960’s instead of progressing to the cancer stages she fought, and died from, in her 50’s,” said user MikeRilstone.

Susan Boolbol, chief of breast surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in New York, told USA Today that “this puts a very positive spin on the genetic testing-and-results arena.”

“Because her message, which should be everyone’s message, is ‘This is my personal choice, it’s not the right choice for everyone but we should all be aware of our options.’ Knowledge is power, that’s what I say to my patients every day,” Boolbol said.

“My eyes just actually welled up bc of how much I love Angelina Jolie,” said Twitter user IsThatLucyJ.

Other fan reactions include:

 

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