Mariska Hargitay’s Family Guide: Meet the ‘Law & Order’ Star’s Husband Peter Hermann and Their Kids

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay generally keeps her family life private, but she made a rare exception for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The actress stepped out with husband Peter Hermann and their three kids to walk the red carpet at the premiere of her new film, My Mom Jayne, on May 17, 2025. In light of the family's rare appearance, Life & Style breaks down everything fans need to know about Mariska's husband and their children.

Who Is Mariska Hargitay's Husband Peter Hermann?

Peter is an actor who is most known for his roles as Charles Brooks in Younger, Jack Boyle in Blue Bloods and defense attorney Trevor Langan in Law & Order: SVU, where he met Mariska in early 2002 while guest starring in season 3. Mariska later admitted on The Drew Barrymore Show that her first thought when she saw her now-husband on set was, "Who is that Clark Gable, Superman guy that I need to marry today?"

The Emmy winner revealed that, after Peter wrapped up his guest appearance, he asked Mariska on a date to a church service, and she knew then that he was "The One."

"We went to church together, and it was like getting hit with a lightning bolt," she told People. "I just started sobbing. Peter thought I was crying because I was so moved by the service. No, it was because I was just overwhelmed, realizing he was The One."

Mariska and Peter tied the knot after two years of dating in Santa Barbara, California, on August 28, 2004. They have been there to support each other's biggest career moments since then, including Mariska receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013 and Peter releasing his first children's book, If the S in Moose Comes Loose, in 2018.

"I never thought I would have this much laughter in my life," Peter gushed about their marriage to People in 2019. "Not just actual laughter, but also the way that Mariska is just the embodiment of laughter - of joy."

He continued, "It's the way we find our way back to each other. It's this fantastically, wonderfully ridiculous way that we can swing back and forth any number of times in any given day. But fundamentally we know we have the same destination. We know where we're headed, and it's good. And we know we'll get there together."

Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann Have 3 Kids

Peter and Mariska welcomed their first child, a son named August Miklos Friedrich Hermann, on June 28, 2006. The ER alum gave birth via emergency C-section after she had developed gestational diabetes in her third trimester.

"I was overwhelmed by my lack of energy. All I could do to survive was to eat," she told Self magazine. "First time pregnant, you're like, I gotta eat more! I have to make sure he has enough of every single food group! I did get into eating too much. This pregnancy was really hard for me at the end. I wasn't mobile."

Later, in April 2011, the couple adopted daughter Amaya Josephine Hermann and attended her birth.

"I basically pulled Amaya out. Peter and I held her, and then the birth mother and I hugged for a long time. That was profound," she told Good Housekeeping. "That was one of the most meaningful moments I've ever had in my life."

Finally, Mariska and Peter adopted son Andrew Nicolas Hermann in October 2011.

"We never in a million years thought it would happen this quickly, but something inside of us knew that this was right, and we said, ‘Yes, yes, yes!'" Mariska told People at the time. "We knew this was our guy. Everything about it felt right. It felt divinely right."

The couple also opened up about their decision to adopt two children in their 2019 interview with the publication.

"Having lost my mom at a young age, I then grew up with my stepmom, and I have half-siblings, and so I know that families can be built in all sorts of different ways, that there isn't just one way to create a family and that it isn't just about biology," Mariska, who was 3 years old when mom Jayne Mansfield died, told the outlet.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 10:36 AM.