James Van Der Beek, Who Shares 6 Kids with Wife Kimberly, Reveals He Got a Vasectomy Before Cancer Diagnosis (Exclusive)

Eight is enough!

James Van Der Beek, who this week opened up about his colorectal cancer diagnosis for a PEOPLE magazine cover story, also revealed that he and his wife Kimberly, who share six kids, will not be having any more children.

"Well, we love having kids, but we didn't really plan it out," Van Der Beek's wife Kimberly, 42, says of having such a big brood. (The couple share six children: Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel, 10, Emilia, 8, Gwen, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.) "It just happened. We had one planned child."

Van Der Beek says with a laugh, "One! Out of six. One was 100% on purpose. The one thing we really sucked at was not getting pregnant. But thank God, honestly, because it's such a struggle for people, and we really don't take it for granted. I joke, and I laugh, but like, yeah, we really just kind of got lucky that way."

Still, even before Van Der Beek's 2023 colorectal cancer diagnosis, the couple decided that their family was complete.

"I figured the only way we're going to stop this is if we have some medical intervention," the actor laughs of getting a vasectomy several years ago. He recalls what his youngest daughter, Gwen, told him after the procedure.

"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 says.

"And my youngest daughter looked me straight in the eye and said, 'Daddy, I hope your vagina feels better.' "

He and Kimberly laugh over the memory. He says, "I was like, 'Is she taking a shot at me?' "

Kimberly interjects: "Oh, it's a compliment."

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Despite Van Der Beek's shocking diagnosis at just 46, the couple say they are living a happier life than ever since moving from Beverly Hills to a ranch in Texas in 2020.

"It felt like freedom," Van Der Beek says of moving to the wide open space, where they also have 30 chickens, five dogs, and one bearded dragon named Sharla.

Van Der Beek's cancer isn't the first time they've endured hardships, either: "We've had five miscarriages," Kimberly says. "Two of them were late-term, near-death experiences. We've weathered a lot of storms together."

She adds, "This has been a really difficult year, but there's been this underlying way that we savor life differently. It feels like we understand what real true presence is, what savoring life feels like, finding the beauty in all of it."

For his part, Van Der Beek says Kimberly and the kids are his source of strength.

“There’s no way to get through this without her,” he says, wiping his eyes. “As much as it sucked this past year, there’s not a moment that I ever would have wanted to trade with her watching me go through this. To every caregiver out there, man, God bless you and thank you.”

His kids, he says, have also coped in their own ways. “They’re scared,” he admits. “It’s natural. But they’ve been so supportive and loving and tender.”

He adds with a smile: “One thing I’ve asked every doctor is, ‘What are the odds that I can get my kids to stop calling it ‘butt cancer’? The prognosis is never good on that one.”