(Exclusive) James Van Der Beek, Who Shares 6 Kids with Wife Kimberly, Reveals He Got a Vasectomy Before Cancer Diagnosis

James Van Der Beek revealed on Nov. 3 that he’d been diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer at age 46.

Now, the actor is opening up about his health journey in the hope of raising awareness about a disease that’s becoming more common in otherwise healthy adults under 55.

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

“That’s one of the reasons I want to talk about it and the reason I’m talking about it so openly,” Van Der Beek, 47, tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.

“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,” says the actor, who lives on a ranch in Texas with his wife Kimberly, 42, and their six kids, Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel,10, Emilia, 8, Gwen, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.

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