But, she says, after being in denial for about 20 minutes, she made the decision to have her breasts, ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

"I was a ticking time bomb with an 87% chance of getting breast cancer and a 44% (chance) of ovarian cancer," she says. "(I) didn't like the odds."

She still gets screenings, although she has been told the chances of her developing cancer are slim. She no longer needs mammograms and describes her breasts as beautiful. She is also no longer in fear of developing cancer and is very involved with the organization she founded after being tested, previvorsandsurvivors.com.

She created the organization to offer support to women who are BRCA gene carriers.

"While I was going through my previvor experience, I was invited to join a group of women breast cancer survivors," Young said. "I can certainly empathize with the breast cancer community, but those of us who have never heard the words 'You have breast cancer' are not the same."