Angelina Jolie 'loves' early menopause

Writer-director-producer-actress Angelina Jolie Pitt. Photo / AFP

Angelina Jolie has confessed she loves going through early menopause because it's made her feel "older" and more "settled".

The Salt star, 40, began experiencing the hormonal changes earlier this year when she had her ovaries removed as a preventative measure.

The surgery occurred two years after having a double mastectomy after discovering she carried the defective BRCA1 gene mutation, which places her at a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

"Every woman is different when they go through menopause," she recently told US broadcaster, Tom Brokaw.

"I didn't know emotionally how it would feel. I knew the breasts would be a bigger surgery and physically changing.

"The ovaries is more your hormones changing and your emotions changing, but it's different; you feel different."

However, Jolie, who shares six children with her husband Brad Pitt, now admits the differences have been positive.

"I actually love being in menopause," she tells Sydney's The Daily Telegraph.

"I haven't had a terrible reaction to it, so I'm very fortunate.

"I feel older, and I feel settled being older. I feel happy that I've grown up. I don't want to be young again."

Jolie previously praised Pitt for his unwavering love and support throughout her health ordeal and revealed he always made it known the surgeries wouldn't take anything away from the woman he fell in love with.

- WENN