Life with Josey! Ryan Dorsey has a special bond with his and his late ex-wife Naya Rivera’s son.
The former couple welcomed their baby boy in September 2015. “They are so excited to be first-time parents,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “It was a very easy pregnancy and birth. Naya was born to be a mother and is doing really great so far. And Ryan has amazing paternal instincts and has been waiting on them both hand and foot.”
Joey’s arrival came five months after the Glee alum’s pregnancy reveal. “Surprise! We’re having a baby!” she captioned an April 2015 Instagram post. “Ryan and I feel so blessed and can’t wait to welcome the newest member of our family.”
She and the Ray Donovan alum tied the knot in July 2014 in Mexico but called it quits in November 2016. “After much consideration, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” they told Us in a statement at the time. “Our priority is and always will be our beautiful son that we share together. We will continue to be great coparenting partners for him. We ask for respect and privacy for our family during this difficult time.”
The exes agreed to joint custody the following year and continued to coparent the little one until the actress’ drowning death in July 2020.
When the actress went missing after going out on a boat with Josey in Lake Piru, California, Dorsey experienced “the longest day” of his life.
“You know the result of the search. You know what that result is going to be when it ends and the conversation that you’re going to have to have with [your son], it’s sad,” the Justified alum explained via Instagram. “And when the young boy says, ‘Oh, do you think that we’ll find her? I just want them to find her.’ And you know that he’s so smart. And you know he witnessed a nightmare right before his eyes and he knows that even if they find her, she’s not coming home. It’s sad.”
He added, “I have to tell him, ‘Oh, she’s an angel now. And she’s with God and she’s in heaven.’ And he says, ‘Well, I want to go there. How do I get there?’ I wouldn’t wish that upon any of your ears to have to hear that, hear those words come out of the sweetest soul you know.”
Keep scrolling to see the West Virginia native’s photos with his son over the years, from wearing Halloween costumes to decorating Christmas trees.