International

Actress Angelina Jolie has revealed she has undergone surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes to avoid getting cancer.

The star, who is currently 39, says that her mother Marcheline Bertrand died when she was 49 and wanted to take the action now.

Her operation now puts her into forced menopause.

Mum-of-six Angelina says that she had been planning the preventative surgery for a while but two weeks ago she was told by her doctor that there were a "number of inflammatory markers that are elevated."

This, he said could be a sign of early cancer.

After calling husband Brad Pitt, who was in France at the time she got the diagnosis, she underwent the procedure, a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.

A small benign tumor on one ovary, but no signs of cancer in any of the tissues.

Angelina says she took the heart-wrenching decision so she "an see her grandchildren grow up."

Writing in the New York Times magazine, Angelina wrote: "Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor with blood-test results.