Brad Pitt: Angelina's Mastectomy Decision 'Heroic'

The morning after Angelina Jolie published an opinion piece in The New York Times that revealed her decision to have a double mastectomy, the man in her life, longtime partner Brad Pitt, is showing his support.

"Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie's choice, as well as many others like her, absolutely heroic," Brad Pitt said in a statement. "I thank our medical team for their care and focus."

"All I want is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children," Pitt continued. "This is a happy day for our family."

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In her opinion piece - titled "My Medical Choice," Jolie described her difficult decision to have surgery because genetic tests showed her to have a high risk of developing the disease. Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian cancer at 56 in 2007 after battling the disease for ten years.

"My doctors estimated that I had an 87 per cent risk of breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman."

"Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex."

"On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work."

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Jolie now only has a five per cent chance of developing breast cancer and she admitted her and Brad's six kids - Maddox, 11, Pax, nine, Zahara, eight, Shiloh, six, and four-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne - were a big motivation for her to have the surgery because she wants to see them all grow up.

“I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer," Jolie writes about her decision. "It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can."

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She also expressed how much she leaned on Pitt, 49, whom the 37-year-old actress described as "loving and supportive," and there for her "for every minute of the surgeries."

"We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has," Jolie shares.

As for how the procedure has changed her sense of self, Jolie writes: "On a personal note, 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."

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