james van der beek has great offspring and loves spending time with all of her little ones — and documenting their cutest moments on social media.
THE Dawson’s Creek alum and Kimberly Van der Beek married in 2010 and welcomed Olivia the same year. Their daughter became a big sister two years later when Joshua arrived, followed by Annabel, Emilia and Gwendolyn.
In October 2019, the Dancing with the stars competitor said We Weekly exclusively how he and the producer discipline so many kids at once.
“The good thing with so much [kids] is that you see your parenting mistakes in real time,” the actor explained. “Everything you do to them, they immediately do to each other. You realize, ‘Oh wait, we really need to work out this conflict/resolution issue. [It’s about] just set a good example.
A week after the Connecticut native said We exclusively that he and Kimberly were open to having another child and had “not closed up shop,” he announced baby No. 6 was on the way with an ultrasound clip.
“Hearing the heartbeat was something we never take for granted,” he said on DWTS at the time, referring to his wife’s previous three miscarriages.
He went on to write on Instagram, “@Vanderkimberly and I have been through three of those first dates to find out either no heartbeat or no baby, and she wanted to share that moment. Miscarriage (a word that needs replacing – no one failed to ‘carry’, these things sometimes just happen) is something people rarely talk about and often experience in secret. But there should be no shame around it, or giving you the time and space to grieve. We decided to put ourselves forward – not knowing what we would find – in an effort to remove any senseless stigma around this experience and to encourage those who may be going through it to open up to love and support from friends and family when they need it most. Fortunately, for us – this time – we walked out with tears of joy. #AndThenIDancedAQuickStep.
But just a month later, James revealed he and his wife had lost their baby in a miscarriage. “My wife Kimberly had every future parent’s worst nightmare. We lost the baby,” he tearfully said as he shared the news on the Nov. 18 episode of DWTS. “The little soul we expected to welcome into our family has taken a shortcut to all that lies beyond. You never know why these things happen. That’s what I told my kids.”
The couple secretly welcomed a baby boy named Jeremiah in November 2021. “After suffering full term #pregnancyloss twice in a row (both at 17+ weeks) we kept this one quiet,” James shared via Instagram at the time. “Really, I was terrified when I found out.”
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Keep scrolling for an adorable look at James’ best moments with Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah.