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James Van Der Beek Celebrates Father’s Day By Welcoming His Fifth Child, A Baby Girl Named Gwendolyn

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 13:57 PST, Jun 17, 2018

James Van Der Beek got the best early Father’s Day present — his fifth child, a baby girl named Gwendolyn.

The Dawson’s Creek actor took to Instagram to introduce the world to his newest child, his fourth daughter with wife Kimberly Van Der Beek. The couple now has quite the brood, with 7-year-old Olivia, 6-year-old Joshua, 4-year-old Annabel Leah, and 2-year-old Emilia.

Gwendolyn was born at the couple’s home on Friday with the help of a midwife, as their previous three children had been born. As People magazine noted, the couple’s oldest child was born in a hospital.

Van Der Beek shared photos of the entire family meeting Gwendolyn and shared a sweet message about her arrival, E! News noted.

“Thrilled to announce we welcomed a brand new baby girl into the world Friday morning, just in time for #FathersDay,” he wrote.

But the moment wasn’t all light-hearted. The 41-year-old actor said that he felt the need to speak up against Donald Trump’s policy that took immigrant children from their parents after crossing the U.S. border.

“As I write this, kids are being ripped from the arms of their parents. By our government. For the kid’s benefit? No – the opposite – as a purposeful display of cruelty to deter would-be illegal border crossers AND legal asylum seekers (it’s happening to both),” he said. “And it wouldn’t be honest to wax poetic about my new-baby bliss without speaking up against this atrocity.”

James Van Der Beek is one of dozens of celebrities, athletes, and politicians to speak out against the policy, which was put in place by Donald Trump’s administration close to two months ago. This week, reporters were allowed to visit the holding facilities where children are being placed after their parents are detained, with some comparing them to prison-like conditions.

Others have called on Trump to stop the policy and reunite children with their families, and some celebrities have gone beyond that. This week, as reported by The Inqusitr, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen led a fundraiser that brought in $1 million for the ACLU to support efforts to keep families together and fight the policy.

It’s been a big year for James Van Der Beek even before welcoming his fifth child. In January, he reunited with the other cast members from Dawson’s Creek for a photo shoot marking the 20th anniversary of the show’s debut. The actors posed for the cover of Entertainment Weekly and shared some memories of working on the show.

Here is the picture of Van Der Beek’s other children meeting Gwendolyn. You can see more pictures of James Van Der Beek’s new baby girl on his Instagram page.

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