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(CNN) -- Actress Angelina Jolie announced in a New York Times op-ed article on Tuesday that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
"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," Jolie wrote. "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."
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Jolie's mother, actress and producer Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian cancer in 2007 at the age of 56. Jolie is 37 years old.
In the Times op-ed, titled "My Medical Choice," Jolie said she finished three months of medical procedures at the Pink Lotus Breast Center in California on April 27 that included the mastectomies and reconstruction.
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A mastectomy is an operation that removes all or part of the breast.
She wrote that her experience involved a three-step process. On February 2, the actress had a procedure that increases the chance that the nipple can be saved. Two weeks later, she had major surgery where the breast tissue was removed and temporary fillers were put in place. Nine weeks later, she described undergoing "reconstruction of the breasts with an implant."
"There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years," she said, "and the results can be beautiful."
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"I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made," Jolie wrote. "My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent."
BRCA stands for breast cancer susceptibility genes, a class of genes known as tumor suppressors, according to the National Cancer Institute.
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Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. A blood test can determine if a woman is "highly susceptible" to the cancers.
Fellow actress Christina Applegate had a similar procedure in 2008. She also had a mutation of the BRCA1 gene.
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Jolie may be best known for title role in the "Lara Croft" series of films, but she also won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in "Girl, Interrupted." She also received a Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same role.
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Jolie serves as a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and has visited refugee camps around the world.
The actress has been in a relationship with actor Brad Pitt since the mid-2000s, and they are engaged. The couple has three biological and three adopted children.
Radio personality Robin Quivers has quietly battled cancer for months, but had happy news to share with "Howard Stern" listeners in September 2013. On the show, Quivers revealed that her doctors now believe she's cancer-free, after receiving treatment, including chemotherapy. Quivers is one of several stars who has battled cancer or been affected by the disease.
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In telling her story, Jolie acknowledged that surgery might not be the right choice for every woman.
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"For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options," Jolie wrote. "I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices."
But for Jolie, the decision ultimately came down to her kids.
"I can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer," she said.
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Singer Melissa Etheridge became an advocate for the use of medical marijuana after her 2004 breast cancer diagnosis.
Sharon Jones, performing here in 2011, held off plans to tour and release a new album with the Dap-Kings after being diagnosed with stage 1 bile duct cancer.
Michael Douglas offers some interesting insight as to how he may have developed the throat cancer that he was diagnosed with in August 2010. Douglas later told the "Today" show that his tumor was gone.
Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly has been diagnosed with cancer of the upper jaw bone. "Doctors have told me that the prognosis for my recovery is very good," Kelly said in a statement from his former club.
Actress Christina Applegate had a bilateral mastectomy in 2008. Doctors had diagnosed her with cancer in her left breast and offered her the options of either radiation treatment and testing for the rest of her life or removal of both breasts.
In 2006, singer Sheryl Crow underwent minimally invasive surgery for breast cancer. In 2012, she revealed she had a noncancerous brain tumor.
KISS band member Peter Criss sat down with CNN's Elizabeth Cohen in 2009, a year after his battle with breast cancer. The musician said he wanted to increase awareness of the fact that men can also get the disease.
Cynthia Nixon not only joined the cast of Showtime's "The Big C," about a woman battling the disease, and portrayed a woman with cancer in the Broadway play "Wit" -- Nixon was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.
Zoraida Sambolin was diagnosed with breast cancer on April 9, and has chosen to have a double mastectomy. "Angelina empowered me to share my story," she writes for CNN.
"Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts had been cancer-free for five years in 2012 after beating breast cancer when she revealed she had been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, also called MDS.
"Three's Company" star Suzanne Somers spoke with CNN's Piers Morgan in 2012 about her stem cell surgery and her bout with breast cancer. She was diagnosed in 2001, which is when she began researching alternative methods to reconstructive surgery.
Olivia Newton-John was diagnosed in 1992, and the singer has become an advocate for breast self-examination.
E! co-host Giuliana Rancic underwent a double mastectomy in 2011 after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Actress Kathy Bates didn't share news of her battle until 2012, eight years after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Australian singer Kylie Minogue was only 36 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.
Jolie, center, hugs her father, Jon Voight, in Los Angeles in 1980. Her brother, James, is at left.
Jolie, then 15, poses for a photo in January 1991.
Jolie and Jon Voight are seen in an undated photo.
Jolie attends an event in New York City, circa 1998.
Jolie appears at the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills in January 2000. She won the award for best supporting actress for her role in "Girl, Interrupted."
Jolie and her husband at the time, Billy Bob Thornton, appear at the premiere of her film "Gone in 60 Seconds" in Los Angeles in June 2000. They divorced in 2003.
Jolie and her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, are photographed at the premiere of Jolie's film "Original Sin" in Hollywood in July 2001. Bertrand died in January 2007 of ovarian cancer.
Jolie distributes balls to the children at the Tham Hin refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border in May 2002. She is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.
Jolie carries her son Maddox at the world premiere of "Shark Tale" in September 2004 in Venice, Italy.
Jolie appears on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in March 2004 in Burbank, California.
Jolie attends the German premiere of "Alexander" in December 2004 in Cologne, Germany.
Jolie speaks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad, Pakistan, in May 2005 as part of her role as goodwill ambassador for UNCHR.
Brad Pitt, from left, producer Arnon Milchan and Jolie appear at the premiere of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in June 2005 in Westwood, California.
Jolie and Pitt are photographed at the 61st Cannes International Film Festival in May 2008 in Cannes, France.
Jolie greets fans at the Russian premiere of her film 'Salt" in July 2010 on Moscow.
Jolie walks with four of her children -- Maddox, from left, Zahara, Pax and Shiloh -- at Japan's Narita International Airport in July 2010.
Jolie appears at the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverley Hills in January 2011.
Pitt and Jolie appear at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles in January 2012.
Jolie meets Syrian refugees in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley in September 2012 in her role as UNCHR special envoy.
Jolie announces in a May 14 New York Times op-ed that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Here, on June 2, she makes her first red carpet appearance since the surgery at the London premiere of Pitt's new movie, "World War Z."
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