On Tuesday morning, the world woke up to a New York Times op-ed that publicly revealed that Angelina Jolie has had her ovaries removed, along with her fallopian tubes, because of a mutation in her BRCA1 gene. The gene greatly increases her risk of breast and ovarian cancers. You may be experiencing a bit of déjà vu: Back in May of 2013, Jolie similarly disclosed to the world in a Times op-ed that she had made the decision to undergo a double mastectomy. Breast cancer ran in her family, she explained, and she had taken bold steps in an effort to stave off the disease that claimed her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother. Within hours of her announcement, her fellow celebrities supported Jolie's announcement on Twitter.
Words of support came from the likes of E! host Giuliana Rancic, who had a double mastectomy herself in 2011, and Sheryl Crow, a breast cancer survivor, among many others. Now that history has repeated itself, celebrities are once again reaching out to offer words of love and encouragement to Jolie. Not only must it take massive amounts of courage to make such a drastic choice about your own body; discussing that choice so openly with the Times (and the world) must take a bravery of its own kind.
It's gratifying to see so many people reacting in such a positive way:
