Angelina Jolie News: Woman Faces Same Outcome As Actress Speaks Up On Removing Female Organs [VIDEO[
Angelina Jolie's choice to remove her female organs is hitting home with women everywhere.
Doctors Say Angelina Jolie Did The Right Thing By Removing Female Organs
On Tuesday, ABC News reported that real women who are in the same position as the filmmaker are beginning to speak out.
Jolie recently announces that she made the life-changing decision to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes to lower her risk of cancer that killed her mother, grandmother and aunt.
Kelly Osbourne To Follow In Angelina Jolie's Footsteps To Remove Ovaries
The publication reported about Lindsay Avner who was just 22-years-old when she tested positive for the same gene mutation that Jolie did, which indicates a 55-65 percent chance of developing cancer.
"I had convinced that I [would have] tested negative," Avner said. "I felt like I had my father's side...I was like I'm not going to have to deal with it. It was totally shocking and totally jarring."
In 2006, Avner had to face the decision on whether she would have her ovaries and breasts removed to lower her risk of cancer.
"Here I am at 22 years old and I feel like there's a cloud of cancer following me," she said.
Only a year later at 23, Avner had a double mastectomy but opted not to have her ovaries and Fallopian tubes, which would throw her into immediate menopause.
Avner said that her and her doctors came to the decision that she would wait until she reached 35 to have the second surgery so that she could still have children.
But choosing a timeline for her surgery only dampened her thoughts on enjoying her twenties.
"In the back of your mind [there's a] lurching feeling, 'Hurry up get married, have children, get your ovaries out at 35,'" Avner, now 32, recalled. "That pressure it was undeniable."
To take this pressure off, she decided to freeze her eggs. Now at the age of 32, she plans to start a family after marrying her fiance later this year.
"Yes, you want life to unfold [naturally]," said Avner. But "You have information you can't ignore."
