Thirty-four-year-old Chicago filmmaker Joanna Rudnick’s family history of cancer led her to genetic testing at age 27, and the newfound knowledge that she carried the so-called “Breast Cancer” gene has led her to consider surgery to remove her breasts and reproductive organs. Rudnick recruited women who share the BRCA gene and set out to document their experiences for the film In the Family, which recently aired on PBS.

Rudnick was still working on the film last year when she spoke with Chicago Public Radio’s Steve Edwards on Eight Forty-Eight. She told him that, in some ways, her search for answers began when her mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the young age of 43.

Joanna Rudnick still hasn’t had prophylactic surgery. She says she’s waiting until she’s 40, and is still getting screened regularly.