On the morning of May 1, 2018, Kayleigh McEnany woke up knowing her life was about to change forever. “It was the day of my preventative double mastectomy – the day I would attack my BRCA 2 genetic mutation head-on and take my chances of breast cancer from 84 percent to virtually zero,” she later wrote.

The decision had been nearly a decade in the making. Eight women in her family — including her mother, grandmother, and several aunts — had battled breast cancer, some as young as their twenties. “Eight women in my family … had been plagued with this horrible illness,” McEnany recalled. When her mother tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation, she urged Kayleigh to get tested as well. Just before Christmas, years earlier, McEnany received the call she had feared: “You’ve tested positive for the BRCA2 genetic mutation,” her doctor told her. “Tears began to pour down my cheeks as I walked downstairs to share my diagnosis with my family.”

For years afterward, McEnany lived under the weight of that knowledge. Every six months brought another round of MRIs, mammograms, and ultrasounds. “I was constantly waiting for bad news,” she admitted. By her late twenties, the odds of developing breast cancer were simply too high to ignore. The mastectomy became the only option that gave her peace.

The night before surgery, though, she was overcome with emotion. “I was scared. The night before I fought back tears, as I prepared to lose a piece of myself forever,” she said. But her family did everything they could to make the experience less daunting. Her mother shopped for comfortable clothes for recovery, carefully selecting sweatpants and a pink hoodie. McEnany even chose whimsical lemon-patterned socks that reminded her of the old saying about turning life’s sourest lemons into lemonade.

When the day arrived, she leaned on her faith and her loved ones. “My faith in Jesus Christ was my strength that day … I had siblings constantly calling me with words of encouragement; a husband who promised to love me no matter what; a dad who had been my rock … and a mom who had walked the same path before me when she too had a preventative mastectomy nine years earlier. Their support … carried me through.”

The surgery lasted six hours. When she finally woke up, she was stunned by what she saw. “Much to my amazement, I looked virtually unchanged. ‘Did they even do the surgery?!’ I asked in bewilderment.” Months later, she underwent reconstructive procedures, exchanging temporary saline implants for silicone. “The approach I had taken left me feeling strong, confident, and nearly unchanged,” she explained.

Looking back, McEnany describes the experience not as one of loss but empowerment. “My post-mastectomy life is not one embattled but emboldened. I live free of fear and full of hope.” By going public with her story in a 2018 Fox News op-ed, she hoped to give courage to other young women wrestling with the same decision.

For McEnany, the mastectomy wasn’t just a medical choice — it was a defining moment. “The night before I fought back tears,” she said. “But the next day, with my mom, dad, husband, and Jesus Christ by my side, I underwent a mastectomy, almost eliminating my chance of breast cancer — a decision I now celebrate.”

Today, she continues to speak about the importance of genetic testing, early action, and medical transparency, often citing her own surgery as one of the hardest but best decisions she’s ever made. Looking back, McEnany says the 2018 double mastectomy was a turning point—a painful chapter, but also the foundation for the fearless approach she would later bring to her high-profile career.