BRAD PITT's mother JANE secretly convinced ANGELINA JOLIE to take the fateful test that led to her preventive double mastectomy — after the actress had been shaken by yet another close relative's cancer battle!
That's the hush-hush story behind the Hollywood family tragedy that's rocked america, sources say.
"Basically, Brad's mom helped save angie's life," an insider told The ENQUIRER. "When Angie told Jane that she was considering having genetic testing, Jane said to do whatever she thought was best for the children's sake.
"That was all Angie had to hear. She made a decision right then and there to have it done!"
The heartfelt conversation unfolded while Brad's mom and dad Bill vacationed with the Jolie-Pitt clan during the Christmas holiday last year at designer Donna Karan's lavish home on Parrot Cay in the Turks & Caicos Islands, according to the insider.
During their chat, the source says Jane encouraged 37-year-old Angelina — whose mother Marcheline died of ovarian cancer at 56 — to undergo the $3,000 test. Sadly, she did test positive and therefore carries the faulty BrCa1 gene, a marker for cancer of the breasts and ovaries, just like another close relative who's now fighting for her life.
Jane confrmed the family get-together in an exclusive ENQUIRER interview, but modestly underplayed her role in the dramatic events.
"I absolutely cannot tell you what Angie and I discussed on the Turks and Caicos at Christmas," Jane — who has a children's cancer center named after her in her Springfeld, Mo., hometown — told The ENQUIRER. "That's private. I can only say we are very glad she had this done.
"We think it's a very good decision for the kids, for her, for the family. We are very happy that we feel now that she can live stress-free."
In a statement released to other media, Jane said: "We're so very proud of angie. this means so much to our family, especially our grandchildren. We love her dearly."
The Oscar-winning actress' older brother, James Haven, also spoke out about her decision to undergo the procedure.
"My sister, like our mother, always put her children frst," he said in a statement. "I am so grateful to be her brother."
The "Salt" star, who also serves as a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees, announced she'd undergone the surgery after learning she carried the faulty BRCA1 gene. Her doctors estimated she had an 87 percent chance of contracting breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.
Cancer has stalked the maternal side of angelina's family for decades — with her great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, grandfather, and uncle succumbing to the disease.
Now sources say she and Brad face the heartrending decision of when to tell their biological children — Shiloh, 7, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 4 — that they too, may carry the faulty gene.
The Hollywood A-listers are also parents of three adopted children — Maddox, 11, Pax, 9, and Zahara, 8.
"In discovering that she carries the faulty gene, Angie also learned she may have passed it along to her kids," said a source close to her.
"She now has to decide when to tell Shiloh, Knox and Viv that they could carry this cancer gene as well.
"In Angie's mind, it's an even more painful decision than the one to have a double mastectomy.
"She's trying to come to terms with it — and Brad is comforting her, saying, 'We'll tell Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne when they're ready to know.' But it's hard for angie to face the prospect."
Experts aware of the situation but who have not treated Angelina were interviewed by The ENQUIRER and offered several suggestions on how she should discuss the potentially devastating medical news with her young children.
"The risk of developing cancer increases with age," pointed out Dr. Herman Kattlove, retired oncologist and former spokesperson for the American Cancer Society.
"So for breast cancer, women in their 30s who have the mutant BRCA1 gene need to be concerned.
"That being said, I think the children should be tested in their early 20s for the gene so that as young adults, they can make their own decisions. However, I think that they should be told about the possibility of having it even earlier."
It's also important for Angelina to explain her surgery to her children, added a top psychologist.
"I think she needs to discuss why she had a bilateral mastectomy, and respond if the children ask if it could happen to them," Dr. Jack Singer, a licensed psychologist in California's Orange County, told The ENQUIRER.
"My advice is the children need to be given answers that will make them feel safe, rather than answers that will frighten them."
Dr. Gilda Carle, a psychotherapist and "30-Second therapist" for Today. com, agreed.
"Angie's children are too young to understand whether the gene can be passed on to them, and too young to cope with the possibility if it is," Dr. Carle told The ENQUIRER.
"This knowledge would not beneft the children medically or psychologically until they're older. If at all possible, parents should let children be children until they can cope with the tribulations of adulthood."
