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It should have been a happy time, but instead of celebrating the impending birth of her fourth child Kristie Hardy was dealing with the most terrible news.
“My sister Kim went to get tested for after she found a lump in her breast, and they found she had breast cancer,” Ms Hardy said. “She was 34."
Soon a roller-coaster ride of tests, doctors visits and counselling revealed both sisters had a fault in the BRCA2 gene that drastically increased their risk of cancer.
This week actress Angelina Jolie revealed her decision to have a double mastectomy after learning she carried the "faulty" BRCA1 gene, which also sharply raises the risk of breast cancer.
"I had never even had a mammogram before," Ms Hardy said. "I was petrified and I was pregnant."
As Kim endured chemotherapy and mastectomies, Ms Hardy decided to have her breasts and ovaries removed as well. They both opted for breast reconstruction, with balloons implanted during the breast removal and later "exchanged" for implants.
“We actually had the exchange surgery on the same day, in the same hospital, with the same surgeon,” she said. “We had a week in hospital together, comparing boobs."
At night, Kristie would climb into Kim's hospital bed to watch TV.
For her, having the surgery in March 2011 was the only option.
“My grandmother had breast cancer, and my father and my aunty both died of cancer before they were 55,” she said. “My sister was going through chemotherapy and she had lost all her hair and was getting infections."
Ms Hardy had to wait eight weeks after her son was born to undergo a series of breast cancer tests, so she booked her surgery even before the tests were done.
"It wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when I was going to get cancer," she said. “I didn't want to be a statistic . . . like Angelina [Jolie] my kids needed to know that I was going to be around for them.
“I just wish my dad, and my aunty and my grandma and every other relative had that opportunity.”
Kristie's sister, Kim Lockyear, said being able to go through the process together had helped both of them.
“I'm the younger sister and I think it's hard for the older one. She wanted to help me through it,” she said.
Ms Lockyear said if she hadn't been referred early on to the charity Pink Hope, which supports women at high risk of breast cancer, she would have felt extremely alone.
“It's comforting to know you are not the only one going through this sort of thing,” she said. “The more spotlight that can shine on the fact that it is possible to find out your destiny and make decisions based on that, the better it will be."