PEOPLE exclusively confirms the 41-year-old Pose star and his wife Kimberly welcomed their fifth child, a girl named Gwendolyn. The baby was born Friday morning, June 15, at their home with a doctor and midwife on-hand, just like their previous three children. (Their eldest was born in a hospital.)
“Every child awakens a different energy in you… and this one has been bringing up the truth ever since we found out she was on her way,” the actor said in a statement.
“I’ve been in bliss these last few days, but I’ve also been feeling the pain of parents who have been separated from their kids, and the terror those poor kids must be in right now. I live an incredibly privileged life… and the last thing I want would be to politicize a birth… but this is human rights abuse. It just didn’t seem right to bask in my privilege and blessings and not bring attention to it.”
In a sweet photo with the newborn, Van Der Beek holds Gwendolyn against his bare chest. Another photo shows Kimberly enjoying some sleepy cuddling with the baby, and the other children fawn over their new sibling.
The newest addition to the family joins big siblings Emilia, 2, Annabel Leah, 4, Joshua, 6, and Olivia, 7½.
The What Would Diplo Do? showrunner and star tied the knot with Kimberly in August 2010, welcoming Olivia the next month. The “small, spiritual ceremony” took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, where the couple met in 2009.
The Van Der Beeks first announced their baby news in February when they shared an an adorable photo of their four children placing their hands on Kimberly’s baby bump.
In late April, Van Der Beek said there was “plenty of room for one more” in the family minivan alongside a snapshot of all four kids hanging out in the backseat of the car.
A month before, in March, the Dawson’s Creek alum opened up on social media about the “trickiest” part of being a parent of four — and how he and his wife manage the task.
“Trickiest thing with multiple kids is carving out one-on-one time with each of them … but it’s SO important,” he captioned a photo gallery featuring himself, a pregnant Kimberly and Annabel.
“Had a million things I wanted to get done today, but ultimately, none of it would have held a candle to watching my #3 thrive when asked something she’s rarely ever asked: What do YOU want to do?” Van Der Beek added.
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.
