In summer 2018 my mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer.

Further testing identified a BRCA2 gene mutation as the cause. Having the BRCA2 mutation increases your chances of developing breast cancer to 45-70% and ovarian cancer to 11-17%.

The mutation is hereditary, with a 50% chance to pass it to your children.

In May 2020, my wife’s BRCA genetic test was positive.

Prevention

Doctors recommended preventive surgery to remove breasts, ovaries, and Fallopian tubes which reduces the cancer risk by 90-95%.

On top of the heavy physical and psychological toll, and the inherent risk of any operation, the surgery has two additional consequences: early menopause and no more children.

A sibling for our lovely four-year-old daughter was in our plans, but with three heartbreaking miscarriages on our backs, and both of us over 40, we were ready to move past the childbearing stage of our lives.

So given what my mother-in-law had gone through, we deemed the operation and its consequences to be the lesser evil, and my wife joined the public health service’s waiting list