Cobie Smulders' 2 Kids: All About Daughters Shaelyn and Janita

'How I Met Your Mother' alum Cobie Smulders shares two children with her husband, Taran Killam

Cobie Smulders has been open about her emotional journey to becoming a mom to her two kids: daughters Shaelyn and Janita.

The How I Met Your Mother star was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005 at 25 years old and was told she might not be able to conceive children.

“It was a mess,” she told PEOPLE in 2018. “I think it was messy mostly because I had a great fear of not being able to have kids. I’ve always been very maternal, I’ve always loved children and I’ve always wanted one of my own.”

Related: 'How I Met Your Mother' Cast: Where Are They Now?

The Marvel actress underwent several surgeries over the course of two years to remove the tumors from her ovaries. Within a year of her final surgery, she and her now-husband, Saturday Night Live alum Taran Killam, found out they were expecting their first child.

The couple welcomed their first daughter, Shaelyn, in 2009, and six years later, had a second daughter, Janita.

“I ended up keeping a third of one of my ovaries, and through that, was able to have two children naturally. Which, when I say that out loud, I can’t even believe that happened,” she told Coping with Cancer magazine in 2018. “When I was able to have kids, that was everything. And it still is everything.”

Here's everything to know about Cobie Smulders’ two kids, Shaelyn and Janita.

Shaelyn Cado Killam, 15

A few months after announcing their engagement, Smulders and Killam welcomed their first child, daughter Shaelyn, on May 16, 2009.

While pregnant with her firstborn, Smulders was filming How I Met Your Mother alongside her pregnant costar Alyson Hannigan. Both women, who were expecting their first child and due to deliver their daughters roughly two months apart, confided in each other on set.

“Yeah, you really can’t help it, because you have babies on the brain, and you can’t help but talk about it a lot,” Smulders told PEOPLE in 2009. “From creams, doctors, birth methods, dilation ... You talk about everything.”

Shortly after Shaelyn’s birth, Smulders opened up about motherhood while appearing on The Bonnie Hunt Show. "I think I sleep an average of four hours a night now, so it's just like functioning on fumes sometimes," Smulders said. "But it's the best."

Throughout Shaelyn’s childhood, Smulders emphasized less screen time and more immersion in nature, including pool time, hiking and biking for her young child. “We have been spending so much of our free time outdoors and are passionate about protecting and preserving the planet,” Smulders told SheKnows in 2020.

Smulders and Killam are also aiming to keep their daughters off social media for as long as they can, recognizing it can be a “tool of comparison.”

"Even myself, I'm like, 'I quit Instagram,' you know, and so I try to minimize usage as much as possible, but it's certainly addictive," the actress told Distractify in 2022.

Now that Shaelyn is navigating the teenage years, Smulders opened up about how she’s trying to maintain a close bond.

"For me, the most important thing — my dream as a parent — is for my kids to be able to talk to me about anything," she told Yahoo! Life in 2022. "That's my goal, that's my ambition. Do I meet that goal? Some days. Some days, I don't. But in terms of relationship, that's the most important thing."

Janita Mae Killam, 9

Smulders and Killam welcomed their second daughter, Janita, around January 2015.

Like her first pregnancy, Smulders was expecting Janita while shooting one of her projects, Unexpected. The film centers around a high school teacher who is pregnant at the same time as one of her most promising students, and the two form a friendship while navigating their unplanned pregnancies.

During the promotion of the movie at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015, Smulders talked about being pregnant in real life while assuming one of the lead roles. “The timing of it was what it was,” she told the Los Angeles Times. "It wasn’t planned to happen that way, but I think my pregnancy was beneficial to the movie in some respects.”

She also brought Janita, who was 3 weeks old at the time, with her to Sundance, acknowledging the support she had as a working mom. “I’m very lucky where I have a great career and a huge support system and not every woman has that,” she told Bustle in 2015.

Janita has grown up visiting her mom on set, as Smulders wants to show her children the collaboration it takes to make a project come to life.

"It can seem very glitzy and glamorous, but when you're on set it's not that way," she told Yahoo! Life. "What I do like to do is have them come to set so they can understand — because as actors we get a lot of the credit for these projects but it's really important for me to be like, 'This is Bob and he's a grip.' "

Smulders continued, “I want them to understand that this is a group effort and a job for so many people. I want them to know I am part of a team."

The actress has given glimpses into her younger daughter’s life, revealing some of the favorite activities she enjoys with her kids. In addition to watching documentaries and The Great British Baking Show, they enjoy listening to musicals such as Hamilton and Annie, hiking and playing with vegan modeling clay.

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Read the original article on People.