At age 35, Jessica Queller was the kind of woman it’s hard not to envy. Bright, funny and attractive, she was a TV writer with a great Hollywood gig and loads of friends.
Yet one sunny morning, Queller suddenly faced an overwhelming life-or-death decision.
Bad idea. On that morning in 2004, Queller called the lab from her desk at “Gilmore Girls” and was told by a gruff voice that she’d tested positive for the BRCA1 mutation. Translation: She had up to an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer by age 70, and up to a 44 percent chance of ovarian cancer, too.