Proceed with caution. James Van Der Beek shared a photo on Monday, June 18, and it included a warning about its “graphic” nature.
In the picture, Van Der Beek, 41, is seen holding his newborn daughter Gwendolyn — who is still attached to her umbilical cord.
“The category is: Home-Birth Realness,” began the now father of five before warning the “squeamish” to divert their eyes. He then ticked off the details of the image. “Messy bed, Plastic sheeting underneath old sheets, Old towel crumpled on the floor, Vomit bag (unused), Inflatable birthing tub (also unused), Shirtless Dad, Boy in Spider-Man pajamas, Happy, healthy baby, Happy healthy Mom in her own shower right after giving birth, Water bottle And . . . placenta in a mixing bowl (I warned you).”
The Dawson’s Creek alum and his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, welcomed their fifth child on Friday, June 15. He and the wellness blogger are also parents of Olivia, 7, Joshua, 6, Annabel Leah, 4, and Emilia, 2.
James announced the arrival of Gwendolyn on Sunday, June 17, with a photo of the family fawning over their newest addition.
“These last few days, as I’ve enjoyed the privilege of making smoothies I know my older kids will like, making my wife red raspberry leaf tea to ease her uterine contractions, spending ‘boy time’ with my son and getting my two year-old down for a nap in the way only I know how . . . I’ve been sick about something,” he wrote. That something is the White House’s zero-tolerance immigration policy of separating children from parents who are caught illegally crossing the southern U.S. border.
A Department of Homeland Security official told reporters on Friday, June 15, that 1,995 migrant children were separated from 1,940 adults between April 19 and May 31.
“As I write this, kids are being ripped from the arms of their parents. By our government,” he stated in the post. “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 (its happening to both). And it wouldn’t be honest to wax poetic about my new-baby bliss without speaking up against this atrocity.”
