Kayleigh McEnany says she's happy she decided to a preventative double mastectomy after learning she carried a genetic mutation for breast cancer.
McEnany, who was recently named the national press secretary for President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, has a family history of breast cancer and, in 2009, learned she had a mutation that gave her an 84 percent risk of also developing the disease.
After 10 years of debating, McEnany decided to remove both breasts on May 1, 2018 at age 30 - which would slash her breast cancer risk by 95 percent.
In an op-ed for Fox News, McEnany, now 31, says she hopes she can inspire other women, if they decide they need the surgery, to not fear it.
Kayleigh McEnany, national press secretary for President Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, has a family history of breast cancer. Pictured: McEnany after her double mastectomy
McEnany (left and right) said eight women in her family were diagnosed with breast cancer, mostly in their 20s. In 2009, both McEnany and her mother learned they carried the genetic mutation that put them at risk for developing breast cancer
In a previous op-ed for Fox News, McEnany said eight women in her family were diagnosed with breast cancer, mostly in their 20s.
In 2009, both McEnany, who was just 21 years old at the time, and her mother learned they carried the genetic mutation that put them at risk for developing breast cancer.
Between five and 10 percent of all breast cancers are believed to be hereditary and are passed down from generation to generation, according to non-profit Breastcancer.org.
The majority of hereditary breast cancers are due to mutations in two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2.
Everybody has these genes, which repair damage to cells and inhibit abnormal cell growth.
The average US women has a 12 percent chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, Breastcancer.org says.
However, women who have one or both BRCA mutations have at least a 70 percent risk of developing breast cancer.
Additionally, around 45 percent of women with the BRCA1 mutation and about 20 percent of women with the BRCA2 mutation will develop ovarian cancer by age 80.
Two months after McEnany's mother learned she carried the BRCA2 mutation, she decided to undergo a double prophylactic mastectomy, which is a surgery to remove both breasts.
This is the same procedure Angelina Jolie had after learning she also had the BRCA1
