In article titled 'My Medical Choice' the Tomb Raider star writes describes taking drastic medical action to reassure her children she won't die of the disease that killed their grandmother aged 56.



Brad Pitt today hailed the courage of his fiance Angelina Jolie after she revealed that she has undergone a double mastectomy to lower the risk of her getting breast cancer - the disease that killed her mother almost a decade ago.

In an article for The New York Times entitled 'My Medical Choice,' Jolie says that she completed three months of medical procedures at the end of April that she had so far managed to keep out of the public eye.

Jolie explains that her own mother died of breast cancer at the age of 56 and that she herself had the 'faulty' BRCA1 gene, which increased her chances of getting the disease to 87 per cent, and of getting ovarian cancer to 50 per cent.

Pitt called her decision to undergo a double mastectomy 'absolutely heroic'

Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said: “Having witnessed this decision first hand, I find Angie’s choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic. I thank our medical team for their care and focus'.

He added: 'All I want for is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family.”

The 37-year-old .