Angelina Jolie has had her ovaries removed after her doctors discovered what could be early signs of cancer in a recent blood test.

Jolie, who famously underwent a preventative double mastectomy two years ago to reduce her risk of getting cancer, penned an op-ed piece for The New York Times on Tuesday and explained her decision and the process.

The Oscar winner wrote:
    "I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt. I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren ... The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful."

Jolie's mother Marcheline died of ovarian cancer in 2007, and the actress went to the same doctor who treated her mom. "She teared up when she saw me [and said], 'You look just like her,'" Jolie writes. "I broke down."

After receiving preliminary results, Jolie had to take yet another test to determine if there was cancer currently developing in her body. Though her tumor test was negative, Jolie decided not to take any chances. "I was full of happiness, although the radioactive tracer meant I couldn't hug my children," she writes. "There was still a chance of early stage cancer, but that was minor compared with a full-blown tumor. To my relief, I still had the option of removing my ovaries and fallopian tubes and I chose to do it."

Still, Jolie notes that her path is not the one everyone should choose. "The most important thing is to learn about the options and choose what is right for you personally," she writes. Jolie has six children with husband Brad Pitt, and it sounds like she's known for quite some time that this surgery was in her future. "My mother's ovarian cancer was diagnosed when she was 49. I'm 39," she writes, adding that doctors generally recommend preventative surgery about a decade before the earliest instances of cancer in her female relatives.

Last week Jolie underwent "a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy," which showed a benign tumor on one of her ovaries but no signs of cancer elsewhere, hence why she chose to keep her uterus. Jolie is currently wearing a small patch that delivers bio-identical estrogen to her body, and she also has a progesterone IUD in her uterus to help with her hormone balance. "Regardless of the hormone replacements I'm taking, I am now in menopause," she says. "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."

Jolie expresses her gratitude to her doctors and family for their support, but she's still aware that she's not out of the woods. "The fact is I remain prone to cancer," she concludes. "I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family. I know my children will never have to say, 'Mom died of ovarian cancer.'"