Angelina Jolie has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. In a moving article in today’s New York Times titled “My Medical Choice,” she wrote that between early February and late April she completed three months of surgical procedures at the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Southern California to have both of her breasts removed and that Brad Pitt was present for “every minute of the surgeries.” She said her mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. “She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.” She said, “I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.” (Full story)

Brad Pitt told London’s Evening Standard,  “Having witnessed this decision firsthand, 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. All I want for her is to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family.”