James Van Der Beek revealed he got a vasectomy before his colorectal cancer diagnosis, which he announced earlier this week.
“I figured the only way we’re going to stop [having kids] is if we have some medical intervention,” the father of six, 47, noted while speaking to People in an interview published Saturday.
“I said listen, guys, you know Daddy has some surgery on his private parts, so just be really careful when you run up to me not to bump into anything,” he comically recalled.
Van Der Beek shares his kids with his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek: Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel, 10, Emilia, 8, Gwen, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.
He joked that he and Kimberly “really sucked” at “not getting pregnant” after only planning one of their pregnancies.
“Well, we love having kids, but we didn’t really plan it out,” he explained. “One was 100% on purpose.”
“But thank God, honestly, because it’s such a struggle for people, and we really don’t take it for granted,” he added. “I joke, and I laugh, but like, yeah, we really just kind of got lucky that way.”
James and Kimberly have also suffered at least two pregnancy losses over the years.
He revealed on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2019 that Kimberly had a miscarriage and later revealed they had been through the heartwrenching experience before.
Kimberly, 42, then revealed she nearly lost her life during the 2019 miscarriage.
Continuing his honesty about personal matters with fans, James announced his stage 3 cancer diagnosis on Sunday.
“I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family,” he said in a statement to People. “There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.”
Hours after his health update, the “Dawson’s Creek” alum hopped on Instagram to tell fans he had planned on waiting to share his cancer diagnosis.
“There’s no playbook for how [to] announce these things, but I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon… to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms,” he captioned a photo montage Reel.
“But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.”
In a cover story published by People on Friday, he said he was “cautiously optimistic” about his health.
“I’m in a place of healing, my energy levels are great,” he said.
“When I’ve been out of the woods completely for what feels like a responsible amount of time, I’ll circle back and let you know.”
He did not reveal whether or not he was in remission.
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