James Van Der Beek Got a Vasectomy Before Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis

In an interview with PEOPLE for its latest cover story, the Dawson’s Creek alum shared that he had a vasectomy a few years ago, long before he received his colorectal cancer diagnosis.

Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly share six kids — Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel, 10, Emilia, 8, Gwen, 6, and Jeremiah, 3 — but the couple said they didn’t plan on having a big family.

“Well, we love having kids, but we didn’t really plan it out,” Kimberly, 42, said. “It just happened. We had one planned child.”

“One! Out of six. One was 100% on purpose. The one thing we really sucked at was not getting pregnant,” added Van Der Beek, 47. “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.”

The One Tree Hill alum said that he and his wife made the decision years ago that they were done having children.

“I figured the only way we’re going to stop this is if we have some medical intervention,” Van Der Beek joked.

Following his procedure, his youngest daughter, Gwen, had quite a priceless response, which Van Der Beek shared during his interview.

“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 recalled.

“And my youngest daughter looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Daddy, I hope your vagina feels better,'” he added of Gwen, with him and Kimberly laughing while remembering their daughter’s reaction.

“I was like, ‘Is she taking a shot at me?'” Van Der Beek said, to which Kimberly replied, “Oh, it’s a compliment.”

The Varsity Blues star and his wife have been through rough times before, including multiple pregnancy losses, which Van Der Beek has opened up about in the past.

“We’ve had five miscarriages,” Kimberly told PEOPLE. “Two of them were late-term, near-death experiences. We’ve weathered a lot of storms together.”

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

Van Der Beek became emotional when he discussed his wife and family’s support during his cancer battle.

“There’s no way to get through this without her,” he said. “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.”

While Van Der Beek said his children are “scared” following their dad’s diagnosis, he noted that they’ve “been so supportive and loving and tender.”

In his exclusive cover story with PEOPLE, Van Der Beek revealed his stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis.

“I have colorectal cancer. 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 an exclusive statement, which was first shared last Sunday.

“There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good,” he added.

Per the American Cancer Society, Colorectal cancer starts in the colon or the rectum, which make up the large intestine in the digestive system.

Van Der Beek — who lives on a ranch in Texas with his family — said he’s “cautiously optimistic” after receiving his diagnosis, and hopes to raise awareness about the disease.

“That’s one of the reasons I want to talk about it and the reason I’m talking about it so openly,” he told PEOPLE. “I’ve been dealing with this pretty much in secret for a while, and in the past, I’ve found it helpful and cathartic to share things publicly.”

“And I’ve found a lot of support that way,” he added. “But more than that, I really wanted to raise awareness.”