On or off the dance floor, Maksim Chmerkovskiy has Peta Murgatroyd's back.
The former Dancing With the Stars pro, who will appear on the Oct. 29 episode of Criss Angel's Magic With the Stars, and his wife have been open about their plans to give 5-year-old son Shai a sibling. Though the first round of their in-vitro fertilization journey was unsuccessful, Maks exclusively told E! News that they have not given up on trying for another baby—even if it means taking a step back and looking at other options.
"We still want a family that's bigger than what we are," Maks shared. "We are still going to continue attempts and we'll see what happens, regardless of the fact we're going to have a bigger family whether through adoption or whatever this may be."
He added, "This is not over for us."
Recalling how it was "difficult to watch" Peta go through the IVF process, the 42-year-old feels it's now more important than ever to be candid about the experience. After all, Maks said they received an outpouring of support from people in a similar situation after going public with their struggles.
"The difficulties with having a kid aren't talked about in terms of this is happening a lot of women," he noted. "They're dealing with it in a very personal, blocked-off, closed state way that is so detrimental to the psyche."
And Maks applauds his love for being so open about the IVF journey on social media. While he was initially "skeptical" of posting something so personal online, he said it's been refreshing to watch Peta use her platform to help others know that they're not alone.
He explained, "The more real we are with each other, the better the society will be all around."
As for what the future holds in his professional life? Maks doesn't see himself returning to DWTS any time soon, though he recently had the tables turn on him when he trained as a rookie magician on Magic With the Stars.
"It was insane," recalled Maks, who faces off against singer Omarion in a series of magic performances. "One of the illusions was really hard for me, and it was so hard that I actually was like, 'I'm gonna raise my hand over here and I'm gonna say that I can't do it.'"
Did Maks go through with the stunt? Find out when his episode of Criss Angel's Magic With the Stars airs on Oct. 29 on The CW.