Following Angelina Jolie's announcement on Monday that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy, Abby Huntsman hosted a HuffPost Live segment about the benefits and risks of such a procedure.
Guest Rachel Joy Horn spoke of her decision to get a double mastectomy at the age of 21. It was the same year her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time. Because "knowledge is power," Horn decided to get tested for the BRCA gene and learned she had a BRCA 2 mutation. In March 2012, she underwent the prophylactic surgery.
"I have no regrets," Horn, who runs the blog Ticking Time Bombs, told Huntsman. "Between the age of 12 and 20 ... I was so discontent with my body and had so many self-esteem issues, that when I was 20 I finally started to like myself and then I found out I had this BRCA mutation and I was not willing to start resenting my body again. I wanted to continue liking my body ... the fact that now I wake up and I like the way I look and I don't have ticking time bombs, it completely makes it worth it."
As for not being able to breastfeed future children, "I know when I eventually have [children], breastfeeding is not going to make or break my relationship with them."
She later spoke of another "previvor" she knows who posted on Facebook "'You guys now have the same scars as the Sexiest Woman Alive' and that was wonderful to hear."
Rachel Joy Horn
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