Angelina Jolie has always been outspoken about topics that concern her, and now she’s disclosing a very personal one for the first time: her decision to have a preventative double mastectomy after learning she possesses the BRCA1 gene, which doubles the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

In the New York Times on Tuesday, Jolie, 37, discusses her choice to have the operation.

“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.”

She says she feels “empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”

Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina Jolie’s mother, died of ovarian cancer in 2007 at the age of 56. Jolie is now 37.

“My mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56,” Jolie says. “She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.”

Jolie thanks Brad Pitt, her partner, for being at her side during her procedures at the Pink Lotus Breast Center.

“I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive,” she says. “So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, 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.”

On April 27, Jolie completed three months of surgical operations, which included mastectomies and reconstruction, according to an op-ed in the New York Times headlined “My Medical Choice.”

“It felt like a scene out of a science-fiction film,” she says of a procedure to remove breast tissue.

She also stated in the article that her six children with Brad Pitt influenced her choice to have the surgery, and that she is now coming out about it to inform other women in similar situations about their alternatives.

“Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action,” she writes. “The decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

Jolie believes that by sharing her experience, other women who are coping with similar issues will be inspired.

She advises women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer to be proactive about their health, while admitting that the expense of gene testing in the United States remains a barrier for many.

“I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer,” Jolie adds.

The details of Jolie’s regimen will be published on the Pink Lotus Breast Center’s website, but she encourages people with her medical history to be examined and understand their choices.

“Life comes with many challenges,” she writes. “The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.”