Angelina Jolie shares childhood pic with mom to urge breast, ovarian cancer prevention

Angelina Jolie is honoring her late's mom's birthday by urging women to undergo screenings for breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

"Tomorrow would have been my mother’s 73rd birthday. She passed away 15 years ago, after a long struggle with breast and ovarian cancer," the 47-year-old Oscar winner wrote alongside a throwback pic of her and her mom, Marcheline Bertrand, which she posted on Instagram on May 8, World Ovarian Cancer Day.

Bertrand died in 2007 at age 56, after a nearly eight-year cancer battle.

"In June, I will be a month away from the age when she was diagnosed. I have had preventive surgeries to try to lessen chances but I continue to have check ups," continued the actor, who revealed in 2013 that she’d undergone a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her chances of developing breast cancer. She later opted to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

"My mom loved Hendrix," the actor went on, referring to late rock legend Jimi Hendrix. "And would always sign her letters Kiss the Sky. It took on new meaning after she passed."

Jolie revealed in the New York Times in 2015 that she also lost her aunt and grandmother to cancer.

She concluded her message by expressing her condolences to others who have lost special people in their lives, along with a plea for women to get routine mammograms and other cancer screenings.

“Sending my love to those who have also lost loved ones and strength to those who are fighting at this very moment for their lives and the lives of those they love,” she wrote. “And to other women, please take the time to look after yourself and go for your mammograms and blood tests or ultrasounds, particularly if you have a family history of cancer. “

Jolie added the hashtags #WOCD2023 #worldovariancancerdayand included a link in her Instagram bio to the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s website.

In 2019, the “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” star opened up about the pain of watching her mother die of cancer in an emotional essay for Time magazine.

"I remember once holding my mother’s hand, as she was receiving chemotherapy, when she started to turn purple and I had to race to get the nurse,” she wrote. “Now there are new ways to identify which chemotherapy medication is best for each patient, resulting in fewer of the horrible side effects. Fewer. It’s often still so hard on the body.”

The mom of six also addressed her decision to have her breasts, ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

“I’m often asked how my medical choices, and being public about them, have affected me. I simply feel I made choices to improve my odds of being here to see my children grow into adults, and of meeting my grandchildren,” she explained.

“I have lived over a decade now without a mom. She met only a few of her grandchildren and was often too sick to play with them,” Jolie wrote, adding, “My mother fought the disease for a decade and made it into her 50s. My grandmother died in her 40s. I’m hoping my choices allow me to live a bit longer."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com