Emotional Michelle Heaton breaks down as she admits she’ll tell daughter, 6, she might be forced to have her breasts and womb removed to stop her getting cancer
MICHELLE Heaton broke down in tears as she revealed she will tell daughter Faith, 6, that she might have to have her breasts and womb removed when she's older.
The 38-year-old made the brave decision to have a preventative mastectomy and hysterectomy in 2015 after discovering she has the faulty BRCA2 gene, which can lead to breast and ovarian cancer.
But the Liberty X singer is dreading the fact her daughter might have to go through the same thing to stop her getting cancer in the future.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online’s Big Interview about the daunting challenge, Michelle struggled to get her words out as she cried at the prospect.
Fighting back the tears, she said: “I actually get a lump in my throat . . . I mean it's horrible to look at her... in my head, the best way to look at it is when she is 18, and she gets offered the test, I hope that science evolves, and there is another option, than what I've had to choose.
“Or genetics has evolved, and there's no such thing as BRCA2.”
Michelle decided to pen Hot Flush: Motherhood, the Menopause and Me to talk about what she went through at such a young age and believes it will prove invaluable to her daughter as she gets older and faces the same challenges.
She continued: “But the best thing I can give her is my book. Because everything is in it, and I've not lied, exaggerated, I've been honest.
“So when she is of an age where she can understand I will just give her the book, and wait and see if she has any questions. As nothing has been forgotten, and it has all been explained. Maybe then she will realise why mummy has been a bit upset.”
What is the BRCA gene?
All of us have BRCA genes, and we inherit two copies - one from each of our parents.
They are called tumour suppressors, because their job is to repair damaged cells and prevent them from growing and dividing too rapidly.
Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can cause cells to become abnormal, and grow in an uncontrolled way.
Mutations in the BRCA genes could increase a woman's risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.
The BRCA1 mutation is the more serious of the two - increasing a woman's risk of ovarian cancer from two per cent to 40-60 per cent, according to .
While the risk of breast cancer rises from 11 per cent to 60-85 per cent.
Meanwhile the BRCA2 mutation raises a woman's risk of ovarian cancer to 10-20 per cent, and the risk of breast cancer to 45-60 per cent.
It can also increase the risk of prostrate, pancreatic and breast cancer in men.
Here in Britain, only one in 400 people carry a BRCA1/2 gene mutation.
Things weren’t easy for Michelle throughout her early menopause and today she admits that at times thing got so bad she was convinced her husband Hugh would leave her.
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