NEWSInside Mariska Hargitay’s Family: Meet Her Husband Peter Hermann and Their Beautiful Children
Mariska Hargitay is married to Peter Hermann.
June 19 2025, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
Mariska Hargitay, the beloved star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, typically keeps her family life out of the spotlight. However, she made a notable exception during the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, stepping out with husband Peter Hermann and their three kids for the premiere of her new film, My Mom Jayne, on May 17.
To celebrate this rare family outing, OK! breaks down everything you need to know about Hargitay's husband and their children.
Mariska Hargitay appeared with her husband, Peter Hermann, and kids at Cannes 2025.
Who Is Mariska Hargitay's Husband, Peter Hermann?
Hermann is a talented actor, best 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 first crossed paths with Hargitay in early 2002 during a guest appearance in Season 3.
Hargitay recalled her first impression of Hermann on The Drew Barrymore Show, saying, "Who is that Clark Gable, Superman guy that I need to marry today?"
Mariska Hargitay said she knew she wanted to marry Peter Hermann when she first saw him.
After wrapping his guest spot, Hermann invited Hargitay on a date.
"We went to church together, and it was like getting hit with a lightning bolt," she revealed to 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."
The couple tied the knot on August 28, 2004, in Santa Barbara, Calif., after dating for two years. Since then, they have supported each other's significant career milestones, including Hargitay receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013 and Hermann's release of his first children's book, If the S in Moose Comes Loose, in 2018.
Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann got married in August 2004 and have three kids.
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"I never thought I would have this much laughter in my life," Hermann expressed to People in 2019. "Not just actual laughter, but also the way that Mariska is just the embodiment of laughter — of joy." He added, "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 Three Kids
Hargitay and Hermann welcomed their first child, a son named August Miklos Friedrich Hermann, on June 28, 2006.
The actress had an emergency C-section due to gestational diabetes later in her pregnancy. "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."
Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann have three kids: August, Amaya and Andrew.
In April 2011, the couple adopted their daughter, Amaya Josephine Hermann, and were present for 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," Hargitay shared with Good Housekeeping. "That was one of the most meaningful moments I've ever had in my life."
Later that same year, in October, they adopted their son Andrew Nicolas Hermann.
"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!'" Hargitay told People at the time. "We knew this was our guy. Everything about it felt right. It felt divinely right."
In a heartfelt conversation with People in 2019, the couple elaborated on their journey to adopt two children.
"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," Hargitay explained.
