DWTS Alum Welcomes Baby Boy After 2 Heartbreaking Losses

Getty Baby hand

A “Dancing With the Stars” alum has joyous news to share — James Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly have welcomed their sixth child. The couple chose not to share the news about Kimberly being pregnant because they had previously experienced two heartbreaking miscarriages.

Here is what you need to know about the new bundle of joy and the Van Der Beeks’ large family.

James and Kimberly Announced Baby Jeremiah’s Birth on Instagram

In an Instagram post, the “Dawson’s Creek” star revealed that his family is “humbled and overjoyed” to announce the birth of its eighth member, baby Jeremiah, whom they call “Remi.” James went on to explain why they didn’t announce Kimberly’s pregnancy.

He wrote:

After experiencing late-term #pregnancyloss twice in a row (both at 17+ weeks), we kept this one quiet. Truthfully, I was terrified when I found out.

But we found a doctor here in Texas who diagnosed the last two as having been caused by an: “incompetent cervix” (I asked him what kind of misogynistic old dude invented that term and he laughed – which made me like him even more. Now it’s called a #WeakenedCervix). A simple surgical cerclage was done, removed at full-term, @vanderkimberly gave birth naturally on the ranch… and here we are. 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.

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 finished the post by thanking everyone who knew about the pregnancy for honoring their privacy.

James and Kimberly Experienced Their First Pregnancy Loss During ‘Dancing WIth the Stars’

If you’ll recall, James and Kimberly experienced their first miscarriage while he was competing on “Dancing With the Stars” season 28. They announced the pregnancy in week four of the show, then during the semi-finals, revealed that they had lost the baby.

At the time, James wasn’t sure if he could dance that night, but his wife encouraged him to go on. He wrote on Instagram after the experience that performing on the show brought him a feeling of grace.

He wrote at the time:

This was [half] an hour after the judges pretended to not know what was going on with me after I tried to fake my way through a cha-cha with a broken heart, and just moments after they’d chosen to send a different contestant to the finals, who – along with everyone else in the room – was shocked at their decision and tried to give me her spot live on air (@allybrooke is an angel ❤️). I point out all of this only to say that at perhaps any other stage in life, my demeanor in this moment would not have been so serene. I would’ve felt injustice, frustration, anger, pain… but what came over me as I comforted my partner and told Ally no way was I taking her spot… was grace. A grace, which – to be honest – I had not been fully in touch with prior to losing that little boy. And this might sound crazy to some… but I feel like that was his gift to me. That was one of the things his soul came here to unlock: He gave me access to grace

James and Kimberly lost a second baby at 17 weeks in June 2020. But their new addition joins four older sisters and an older brother — Olivia, 11, Joshua, 9, Annabel, 7, Emilia, 5, and Gwendolyn, 3. Congratulations to their family.

“Dancing With the Stars” has not yet been renewed for season 31. If it is renewed, it will return in September 2022.

READ NEXT: DWTS Contestant’s Wife & Baby Rejected By Hospital