James Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly, have welcomed their sixth child together – a baby boy named Jeremiah – after previously suffering two heartbreaking miscarriages.
“Humbled and overjoyed to announce the safe, happy arrival of Jeremiah Van Der Beek (We’ve been calling him Remi, btw – not dinosaur’),” James, 44, announced via Instagram on Monday alongside several photos of the newborn and his family.
Kimberly also shared in the excitement, writing, “Life is so full I don’t have the words. Jeremiah Van Der Beek, thank you for being here.”
The “Dawson’s Creek” alum then reflected on his wife’s challenging pregnancy journey. She suffered a miscarriage 17 weeks into a pregnancy in November 2019, and then again at 17 and a half weeks in June 2020.
“After experiencing late-term #pregnancyloss twice in a row (both at 17+ weeks), we kept this one quiet,” he explained. “Truthfully, I was terrified when I found out.”
James revealed that his wife’s previous miscarriages were caused by an “incompetent cervix,” and after a “simple surgical cerclage” – where a single stitch is placed around the opening of the uterus to sew the cervix shut – she was good to go.
“@vanderkimberly gave birth naturally on the ranch… and here we are,” he continued. “The medical books say to only look at a cerclage as an option after three late-term losses. Our doctor recommends considering it after one. Spread the word.”
James and Kimberly are parents to five other children: son Joshua, 9, and daughters Olivia, 11, Annabel, 7, Emilia, 5, and Gwendolyn, 3.
“Each child brings their own energy, their own manifestation of consciousness, their own lessons,” James said. “The ones we lost each gifted us with different pieces of the puzzle… leaving us that much more grateful for the ongoing master class we get to enjoy with this sweet, wise little one.”
The actor then thanked everyone in his community who knew about their journey and respected their request for privacy.
