Angelina Jolie Pitt reveals she is in early menopause

Writing in the opinion pages of the New York Times in the US, the actress said that she had been thinking about doing this for a long time.

She made the decision after receiving the results of a blood test that measures the amount of the protein CA-125 in the blood.

This is used to monitor ovarian cancer, she explained. Her results had a "number of inflammatory markers" that were elevated – a possible sign of early cancer.

A further test was carried out to see if that was the case. It wasn't and Jolie Pitt was, to say the least, relieved. She went ahead with the operation because of her family history with cancer.

"Regardless of the hormone replacements I’m taking, I am now in menopause," 

"I will not be able to have any more children, and I expect some physical changes. But I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared."