It's not just your mother who can pass on ovarian cancer - your father can, too 

This is  a common misconception, says Dr Adam Rosenthal, a gynaecological oncologist at University College London Hospital.

'Unfortunately, many women and some doctors disregard the paternal side of the family. They don't recognise the importance of a pattern of cancers on their father's side, so denying themselves the opportunity for gene testing to clarify their level of risk.'

We all inherit two copies of every gene - one from our mother and one from our father. So if either parent has a mutant copy, a child has a 50 per cent chance of inheriting it.

Assuming it's just the mother's line that you need to worry about is an understandable mistake, says Dr Rosenthal, as these genes tend to cause female cancers.

'However, they are not passed down on the female sex chromosome, like some inherited diseases. Men carry them just as easily as women,' he says. 'But women are more vulnerable to the effects.' While a faulty BRCA gene raises a man's risk of prostate cancer to 10 to 25 per cent, they raise a woman's risk of ovarian cancer to 15 to 45 per cent, and the risk of breast cancer to 45 to 90 per cent.

When the gene counsellor said I had the defective gene, I began to cry. I knew from that moment that my life was on a different path

'No one knows why the risk is higher in women, but it may relate to female hormones acting with the faulty gene to promote cancer,' says Dr Rosenthal, who is also consultant gynaecologist at Weymouth Street Hospital, London. He says it's crucial people are aware of any history of cancer in their family.

'Men need to be careful not to disregard their mother's side of the family in the same way women should not ignore their father's side,' he says.

'If you're in any doubt about the implications of a pattern of cancers in your family, discuss it with your GP. They can refer you for genetic testing.'

After hearing the news from her father, Catherine contacted her brother and sister, warning them they needed to be checked.

Her GP put her on a waiting list to have genetic testing. Her father had waited almost ten months to be tested, but Catherine didn't want to wait this long.

'I was 43, which felt quite old to find out you have faulty BRCA1,' she says. 'The thought of it kept me awake at night. My fear was that I might already have cancer - I knew ovarian cancer was notoriously hard to diagnose.'

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