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Angelina Jolie Underwent Ovarian Surgery Before Brad Pitt Divorce, Found Signs Of Early Cancer

By Lindsay Cronin
Published on: 10:13 PST, Oct 8, 2016

Angelina Jolie went through a scary medical crisis last year.

In March 2015, just months after marrying husband Brad Pitt, 41-year-old Angelina Jolie decided to have her ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed after learning she had signs of early ovarian cancer.

“I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt,” Angelina Jolie wrote in an article for the New York Times, according to a report by Us Weekly on October 7. “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.”

Angelina Jolie shares six children with Pitt, 52, three of whom she’s welcomed biologically and three of whom are adopted. In 2006, Angelina Jolie gave birth to their oldest biological child, daughter Shiloh, 10, and two years later, she and Pitt welcomed twins Vivienne and Knox, 8. They are also parents to Maddox, 15; Pax, 12; and Zahara, 11.

While Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt weren’t married for the first 10 years of their relationship, they ultimately surprised fans with a sudden marriage in August 2014. Two years later, Jolie filed for divorce.

In 2013, one year prior to her wedding with Pitt, Angelina Jolie was diagnosed with the BRCA1 gene and chose to undergo a double mastectomy. Jolie made the decision to undergo the surgery because her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, tragically died at just 56 years old after an eight-year battle with ovarian cancer.

As for Angelina Jolie’s 2015 surgery to remove her ovaries and Fallopian tubes, the Us Weekly source said the actress likely experienced “some serious health consequences” due to the procedure.

“All of the things that go along with menopause — hot flashes, insomnia, possible mood changes … [and] it puts you at risk for osteoporosis and heart disease,” Beverly Hills Ob-Gyn Rebecca Nelken told Us Weekly of the physical changes a patient may go through. “If a woman has her ovaries removed in her forties, all of those symptoms are going to hit all at once — and often pretty severely.”

Sadly, Angelina Jolie’s decision to have the surgery not only led to symptoms of menopause but also took away her chances at expanding her family.

“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,” Angelina Jolie reasoned.

Following Angelina Jolie’s divorce filing on September 19, she and her kids left their home in the Hollywood Hills and headed to Malibu, California, where Jolie recently rented a home by the beach. As for Pitt, he has reportedly remained at their Hollywood Hills home.

Since filing for divorce, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reportedly been at odds over a number of issues, including the custody of their children. As fans have surely heard, Angelina Jolie wants to be awarded with full physical custody of the children and Pitt prefers to share custody equally.

As their battle rages on, Angelina Jolie’s brother, James Haven, has stepped up to help his sister with her large family and is acting as her current nanny.

“He took on a more active daily role in June,” a source explained to Us Weekly on October 6. “The kids call him ‘Uncle James.'”

“Brad thinks highly of James,” the source continued. “He’s always been incredible to the kids and is welcome in his home.”

[Featured Image by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]

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