On Aug. 13, Anna Hall had her biggest fear removed.

The Murray, Utah, woman elected, at age 29, to have a double mastectomy to all but eliminate any risk that the breast cancer that claimed her mom and other relatives would shorten her life.

Because through gene testing she discovered she had a BRCA1 gene mutation, Anna Hall knew her own lifetime risk before having the surgery was between 67% and 87%. It’s now not quite zero, but is certainly greatly reduced, which is a huge relief for a woman who has seen breast cancer blaze through both sides of her family, affecting young female relatives on her mom’s side and an older male relative on her dad’s.

Her mom, Michelle Hall, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer when Anna was 5. Her mom was 33 at the time, and after undergoing radiatio

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