Doctor behind Angelina Jolie’s mastectomy speaks out

Angelina Jolie’s surgeon says her calling mastectomy scars ‘a choice’ shows a full circle of healing rarely seen

Angelina Jolie’s breast cancer surgeon has spoken out after the actress described her double mastectomy scars as “a choice”, calling the remark a powerful sign of healing.

Dr Kristi Funk, who performed Jolie’s preventative surgery in 2013, shared a heartfelt response on Instagram after Jolie reflected on her scars in a recent interview with French Inter. In that conversation, Jolie said her scars represent the decision she made to stay alive for her children for as long as possible.

“My scars are a choice I made to stay here as long as I could with my children,” Jolie said, explaining that she has never been drawn to the idea of a life without marks or hardship.

Funk responded by writing, “I was her surgeon. I made those scars,” before adding that hearing Jolie now frame them as a choice reveals a full circle of healing that most people never see. She described scars not as disfigurements but as visible decisions to survive, carrying stories of courage, love and second chances.

Jolie underwent a preventative double mastectomy after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation, which significantly increased her risk of developing breast cancer. She first revealed the decision in a 2013 New York Times op ed titled My Medical Choice, where she detailed her family history and her mother’s death from cancer at 56.

In her recent interview, Jolie also spoke about losing her mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, at a young age and how that loss shaped her perspective on motherhood. She said she is raising her children without a grandmother and wanted to do everything possible to reduce their chances of losing her early.

The actress is currently promoting her upcoming film Couture, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025. In the film, Jolie plays a filmmaker navigating divorce while being diagnosed with breast cancer, a role that mirrors aspects of her own health journey.

Online, fans have praised both Jolie and Funk for openly discussing preventative surgery and survivorship. Many shared personal stories in response to Funk’s post, describing how seeing Jolie speak about her scars has helped them reframe their own experiences.

More than a decade after her surgery, Jolie’s words continue to resonate, turning deeply personal scars into a broader conversation about choice, survival and the meaning of healing.