Angelina Jolie has opened up about her preventive double mastectomy scars after revealing them publicly for the first time in December of last year. The 50-year-old, who underwent surgery back in 2013, shared that her scars "are a choice" that she's "grateful" she made in a new interview with France Inter.
"I've always been someone more interested in the scars and the life that people carry," she said. "I'm not drawn to a perfect idea of a life that has no scars."
She continued: "My scars are a choice I made to stay here as long as I could with my children. I love my scars because of that. And I'm grateful that I had the opportunity and the choice to do something proactive about my health."
© WireImageThe actress shares three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne, with her ex-husband Brad Pitt. Together, they adopted three children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara.
Angelina also discussed losing her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, to ovarian and breast cancer in January 2007, and how she is now "raising [her] children without a grandmother".
"So for me, I think this is life, and if you get to the end of your life and you haven't made mistakes and you haven't made a mess, you don't have scars, you haven't lived a full enough life," she added.
© Getty ImagesAngelina publicly unveiled her mastectomy scars for the first time for a shoot with TIME France. "I share these scars with many women I love," she said. "And I'm always moved when I see other women share theirs.
"I wanted to join them, knowing that TIME France would be sharing information about breast health, prevention, and knowledge about breast cancer." On the cover, Angelina posed in a low-cut black sweater, subtly covering one breast with her hand.
© Getty ImagesAngelina had a preventive double mastectomy in 2013 after learning that she carried the BRCA1 gene – which increased her risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer. "I did choose to have that [surgery] because I lost my mother and my grandmother very young," she told us at the San Sebastian Film Festival for the European premiere of her latest film, Couture.
"I have the BRCA gene, so I chose to have a double mastectomy a decade ago," she added. "And then I've also had my ovaries removed, because that's what took my mother. Those are my choices. I don't say everybody should do it that way, but it's important to have the choice. And I don't regret it."
