Angelina Jolie’s Time France feature has been making the rounds worldwide. While the 50-year-old actress’s cover look is undeniably striking—and buzzy in its own right—it’s her decision to pose while revealing her mastectomy scars for the first time that’s sparked an even bigger conversation.
“I share these scars with many women I love,” Jolie told the outlet. “I’m always moved when I see other women share theirs.” She continued, “I wanted to join them, knowing that TIME France would be sharing information about breast health, prevention and knowledge about breast cancer.”
Jolie underwent a preventive double mastectomy in 2013, a decision she shared in a first-person essay published by The New York Times that same year. “The truth is, I carry a ‘faulty’ gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer,” she wrote at the time. “My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.”
She continued, “Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as 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.”
Fast-forward more than a decade later, and Jolie remains dedicated to spreading awareness about the importance of BRCA screening for all women. “Every woman should always be able to determine her own healthcare journey and have the information she needs to make informed choices,” she said.
“Genetic testing and screening should be accessible and affordable for women with clear risk factors or a significant family history,” she said. “When I shared my experience in 2013, it was to encourage informed choices. Healthcare decisions must be personal, and women must have the information and support they need to make those choices. Access to screening and care should not depend on financial resources or where someone lives.”
With her TIME France feature, Jolie brings that message into the present—at a moment when access to information, screening and care remains as critical as ever.
