James Van Der Beek Shares Surprising News About His Family

James Van Der Beek has been very open about his love of family life. The former "Dawson's Creek" actor and his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, are living a big family life together with their kids miles away from tinsel town out in Texas, with the actor sharing they decided to make the move to Austin with their brood very much in mind.

"We wanted to give the children space and we wanted them to live in nature," James explained to City Lifestyle Austin in September of their decision to swap the glamour of Los Angeles for the rural Lone Star State. Their big move followed some tragic losses, including the couple experiencing multiple pregnancy losses and the death of James' mom.

Kimberly explained to the outlet that they wanted to become "immersed" in nature in order to "heal" amid the tragic circumstances. "We had just been through a crazy year; with two late-term miscarriages, my body was still healing and it was hard for me to walk around at that point," she said.

The couple previously opened up about their five miscarriages to Entertainment Tonight in May, sharing that two happened within a seven-month period and were considered life-threatening to Kimberly. "Those were incredibly difficult, emotionally and physically. I just felt like I was going to pass. I didn't know that I was going to live through it. It became pretty dark," she explained.

But, thankfully, the whole family is now celebrating some joyous news.

James Van Der Beek confirmed huge news on November 22, sharing he and his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, welcomed a baby boy, their sixth child together. The actor told his Instagram followers he was "humbled and overjoyed to announce the safe, happy arrival of Jeremiah Van Der Beek" alongside several photos and a video of the new arrival with his family.

The star touched on the difficult road to pregnancy and why they didn't announce they were expecting, adding, "After experiencing late-term #pregnancyloss twice in a row (both at 17+ weeks), we kept this one quiet." He shared he was "terrified" when they learned Kimberly was pregnant, explaining she underwent "a simple surgical cerclage" and "gave birth naturally on the ranch."

James continued, "Each child brings their own energy, their own manifestation of consciousness, their own lessons. 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." He signed off his touching message, "Life is beautiful" with a red heart.

James has been very vocal about how much he loves being a dad, telling She Knows in October how the pandemic made him appreciate family life even more. "[It] highlighted how much of a priority my family is, over other things that were important to me pre-pandemic... [It] made it abundantly clear that was what made me happiest."