What We Know About James Van Der Beek's Six Kids

James Van Der Beek rose to stardom during his memorable run on the drama "Dawson's Creek." But nowadays, the actor would rather be home with his large family instead of on the screen. And he certainly has his hands full as he and his wife have six growing kids to care for at home.

Van Der Beek met his wife Kimberly Brook in 2009 when they both were visiting Israel, and their meet-cute story was kismet. On their 10th wedding anniversary, Van Der Beek looked back at his 2009 trip to Israel in an Instagram post. The actor said he was feeling unsatisfied with his Hollywood life, was recently divorced, had been reflecting on his past relationships, and decided on his trip, "I was done being single. I wanted a real relationship. A soul mate. Someone with whom I could build a family. I was mid-revelation, rattling all this off to a friend of mine when a voice interrupted us, wanting to ask him a question. I was annoyed. Who the hell was stepping all over my moment? I turned around... it was [Kimberly]." They returned to Israel a year later for their wedding in 2010.

Since then, they have had six children together: Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, and baby Jeremiah. But Van Der Beek has no complaints about his large family. In 2023, Van Der Beek spoke with Good Morning America about how he feels in the role of father. He said becoming a dad is "the craziest thing I've ever done" and also "the thing that's made me happiest."

James Van Der Beek's first child, Olivia, was born in 2010. Her birth took place one month after her parents' wedding. While the pregnancy was easy, the birth was not as simple. "We were one of those couples who was all about natural birth," James remembered (via People). "Kimberly did it as naturally as she could, but at the end of the day we were very glad we were in the hospital." To this day, Olivia is the only Van Der Beek child to be born in a hospital.

The couple had a sweet reason for picking their oldest child's name, and it shares a special connection with where the couple met and married. "We wanted her to come out and then see what her name would be. She looked like an Olivia," James told People, adding, "There's an olive tree in Israel that's special to us." Kimberly agreed, sharing, "We spent time under it when we first met in Israel," and the couple returned to the tree during the pregnancy.

In September 2024, James posted a sweet tribute to his "exquisite" firstborn on Instagram for her 14th birthday. "I continue to be in awe of the grace with which you teach us how to parent. You've always been wise beyond your years ... but as those years advance deeper into teenage-dom and we all adjust to the changes, I want to commend you for the bravery with which you separate from us and call in your own experiences ... and tell you how much we appreciate the sincerity and sweetness with which you re-engage with the family."

In February 2024, Olivia Van Der Beek made her television and singing debut alongside her famous father. The duo appeared on the FOX reality show "We Are Family," where celebrity relatives sing and the audience must guess who their famous family member is. Olivia and her dad sang the classic LeAnne Womack ballad "I Hope You Dance" as a duet.

James Van Der Beek took to social media after appearing on the show to say how proud he was of his eldest daughter. "She'd never sung in front of people before," the beaming father shared on Instagram. "So proud of my baby girl. And I call her that because when I watched her tonight, all I could see was the newborn in the bassinet who I could not stop looking at in awe. Kid's still got it."

The actor added that his daughter's debut reminded him of how his own mother supported his acting dreams. "When I was 15, I first told my mom I wanted to audition professionally," he recalled. "She didn't hold me back. She took me to NYC, and she walked me through it. So when the opportunity to do #WeAreFamilyFox came up and my 13-year-old lit up like a carbon copy of me at that age ... I let her put herself on tape. I got her some voice lessons. And I walked her through it." And it looks like Olivia is planning to continue her journey as a singer. In 2024, she performed three songs at The Kindness Campaign's The Art of Kindness Gala in Austin, Texas.

Two years after Olivia was born, the Van Der Beek family welcomed their first son, Joshua, in 2012. Unfortunately, the pregnancy did see some complications. Kimberly Van Der Beek learned that the baby was breech at the 37-week mark. In an essay for People, Kimberly recounted meeting with a doctor who specialized in delivering breech babies so she would not require a c-section. Joshua was the first Van Der Beek child to be delivered during a home birth. "At 7:42 a.m. Joshua was born into James' arms in our bed as the sun was rising," Kimberly remembered. "Yes, it was painful. But it was also peaceful and perfect."

The Van Der Beeks welcomed their third child, daughter Annabel, in 2014. The couple again waited until the child was born to pick her name. And they also held off on finding out the baby's gender until she was born. Baby number four, Emilia Van Der Beek, was born in 2016. The couple's fifth child and youngest daughter, Gwendolyn, was born in 2018. Finally, in 2021, the couple welcomed their youngest kid, a boy named Jeremiah. Jeremiah, who the family refers to as Remi, is the only Van Der Beek child born in Texas, where the family relocated in 2020 and own a stunning home. But the journey to welcome their sixth child wasn't easy for James Van Der Beek and his wife.

James Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek have been honest with the world about their complications with conceiving in the hopes of eliminating the stigma that comes with the topic. Before welcoming their sixth child, Kimberly suffered two back-to-back miscarriages, both at 17 weeks along. She told "The Make Down" podcast that the two miscarriages were "really extreme." And in total, Kimberly had endured five miscarriages over the course of nine years.

One of these miscarriages occurred when James was competing on season 28 of "Dancing With The Stars." The couple shared news they were expecting and even had their first ultrasound recorded by the "Dancing With The Stars" cameras. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, James had to share with the world that his wife experienced a heartbreaking miscarriage. "My wife Kimberly and I went through every expectant parent's worst nightmare. We lost the baby," he announced on the show (via E! News). "The little soul that we had expected to welcome into our family took a shortcut to whatever lies beyond." The family later shared that a doctor diagnosed the previous miscarriages to an "incompetent cervix," and Kimberly underwent "a simple surgical cerclage" before conceiving the sixth Van Der Beek child (via Today).

The former "Dawson's Creek" star is more than happy to share how being a dad has made a positive impact on his life. James Van Der Beek frequently takes to social media to celebrate his six children and share a look at how the family of eight lives. After welcoming his youngest son, Van Der Beek wrote on Instagram, "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."

James spread the love on Father's Day in 2023 with a reflective Instagram post accompanied by pictures of him and all of his children. "Fatherhood. It costs focus, sleep, time and money... You give up long brunches, watching the game live, crashing early, sleeping in, a clean house, clean yard, a clutter-free garage... You surrender projects, jobs, vacations, hobbies, free time, food off your plate, and the expectation that anything will ever remain exactly where you put it. And you wouldn't trade it for anything in the world." He concluded the post by thanking his wife and his "six saucy angels for making me feel like the richest man on the planet."