“I had my ovaries removed at 19 and got skin cancer aged 21”

A woman has told how she made the difficult decision to have her ovaries removed aged 19 to stop her developing cancer. Emily Balck, 24, was diagnosed with Turner syndrome when she was in the womb. The condition makes her five times more likely to develop skin cancer and 30% more likely to develop ovarian cancer had her ovaries removed aged just 19. In addition to having her ovaries removed as a teen, she also had skin cancer on her neck aged 22. Emily from Salem, Oregon, said: “It can be pretty lonely to have the condition and it’s pretty shocking to get cancer at such a young age but I’m not letting it get in the way of living my life to the fullest.”