US actor James Van Der Beek has announced his wife has suffered a miscarriage.
The star of teen drama Dawson’s Creek said wife Kimberly lost the couple’s sixth child on the weekend.
Van Der Beek announced the news during an episode of Dancing With The Stars.
In a video message, the 42-year-old said: “My wife Kimberly and I went through every expecting parent’s worst nightmare. We lost the baby.
“The little soul that we had expected to welcome into our family took a shortcut to whatever lies beyond.
“You never know why these things happen, that’s what I’ve been telling my kids. All you know is that it brings you closer together, it breaks you open, it opens up your heart, it deepens your appreciation. It makes you more human.”
Van Der Beek admitted he did not expect to be taking part in Monday’s episode of Dancing With The Stars, but revealed Kimberly convinced him to dance.
He and his professional partner Emma Slater were awarded a score of 27/30 from the judges, though it was not enough to save them from being eliminated.
The actor, who revealed he and Kimberly were expecting a new arrival last month, is also father to Olivia, nine, Joshua, seven, Annabel Leah, five, Emilia, three and one-year-old Gwendolyn.
Van Der Beek, who played Dawson Leery in six seasons of Dawson’s Creek from 1998 to 2003, addressed the loss on Instagram.
He said he and Kimberly were “Wrecked. Devastated. In shock.”
He said: “That’s how we’re feeling right now after the soul we thought we were going to welcome into our family in April… has taken a short cut to whatever lies beyond this life.
“We’ve been through this before, but never this late in the pregnancy, and never accompanied by such a scary, horrific threat to @vanderkimberly and her well-being. Grateful that she’s now recovering, but we’ve only just begun unpacking the layers of this one.”
He thanked friends and co-workers for support, adding “Grieving AND counting our blessings today.”
Van Der Beek, whose film roles include Varsity Blues and The Rules Of Attraction, married Kimberly in 2010.