Michelle Heaton Discusses Her Fear That Her Daughter May Be Carrying A Cancer Gene
Picture: Ok
Michelle Heaton had to make a hard choice ten years ago.
Michelle, now 42, decided to have a preventative mastectomy and reconstruction surgery after learning she carries the faulty BRCA2 gene and has an 85 percent chance of developing breast cancer in her thirties.
In addition, the actress had a full hysterectomy in 2015 to remove the possibility of developing ovarian cancer.
Now, ten years later, Michelle has revealed that she needed a new breast reconstruction surgery after her implants began to leak, and she is showing off the results of her method in a new! magazine this week.
Michelle opened up about how she felt about her decision to have surgery as she talked through her fears and concerns about the process, including whether she would become addicted to pain relievers in the weeks that followed.
The mother of two, who also has a son, AJ, with husband Hugh Hanley, expressed concern that her ten-year-old daughter Faith may face similar tough decisions in the future.
She explained: “I have the gene [BRCA2], which won’t go away. I look at Faith and see she’ll have to decide, when she’s at the age, whether to get tested.
“It’s a gut-wrenching feeling as a mum, thinking you may have passed it on. My dad passed it on to me and no one is to blame, it is what it is.”
Michelle went on to say that she is hopeful that science will develop further before her daughter is forced to make a choice.
She explained: “Science has transformed over the past 10 years in particular. I hope she won’t have to have the operation. If I wanted her to, she could get tested now. I don’t, because I want it to be her choice.”
Michelle revealed last month that she had undergone a second round of breast surgery after comments about her boobs were made in a video from a behind-the-scenes shoot with OK! in December.
“Quite a few people pointed it out and there was one that really did make me pay attention,” Michelle explained. “It said something like, ‘Look at her. If I were her I’d be more worried about her breast looking like it’s exploded.’ It’s a difficult one as I always like to say I don’t read nasty comments. But for me, that wasn’t nasty, it was a savior.”
