Hermann describes their relationship as a path where they can swing back and forth but always find their way back to each other.
At the benefit gala, Hollywood actress Mariska Hargitay made a rare appearance alongside her children. She has one biological son and two adopted children with her husband, American actor Peter Hermann. The mother of three is no longer afraid to expose her children after having a terrible time with adoption.
Hollywood actress Mariska Hargitay and her dapper husband Peter Hermann made a public appearance when they attended the 2023 Youth Stuttering Association Gala to offer their support. While the celebrity visits were amazing, the rarely-seen attendance of their children was even more pleasantly unexpected.
The three children followed Hargitay and Hermann as they took the platform to the carpet. On August 16, Andrew, 11, and Amaya, 12, attended a special occasion with their parents.
Hargitay looked gorgeous in a pastel green wrap dress as the family posed for photos. Keeping her fresh brown hair loose, she carefully groomed her daughter Amaya, who wore a floral off-the-shoulder dress. The young girl was sitting next to her older sibling, Andrew, who was dressed nicely in a suit that resembled his father’s suit.
August, the eldest son, was placed between his parents, wearing a blue long-sleeve t-shirt and beaming widely. His father had his hands over August’s shoulders in a kind gesture. Six months apart, five years after August was born in 2006, his siblings were adopted.
The “Welcome to 18” actress and her husband Hermann have been together for 18 years and it’s still going strong. When asked what the secret is, Hermann replied that generating happy and funny moments is the key to their long-lasting marriage.
“I never imagined I would laugh so much in my life. Not just the laughter itself, but how Mariska embodies pleasure and happiness.”
With her husband Peter Hermann, Mariska Hargitay has three children, two of whom are adopted.
The Hargitay-Hermann family believes that creating happy memories is essential, so they actively seek out opportunities to enjoy fun family activities together. Hargitay said the family actually had a number of struggles going through the adoption process for both Amaya and Andrew, so things weren’t always rosy and peachy for the family.
Hargitay was mostly raised by her father and stepmother after losing her mother at a young age. During this transition, she gained several step-siblings, which made her realize that there are other ways to create a family besides the traditional nuclear way.
They married in 2004 when Hermann proposed on one knee, wearing a gorgeous band made of vintage platinum set with nine round diamonds.
Hargitay, who discusses the sometimes “devastating” circumstances she and her husband went through trying to adopt a child, warns that the process is definitely not for the faint of heart. After giving birth to their first son at the age of 42, Hargitay’s family plan – which always included the possibility of having more than one child – was confirmed and the couple decided they wanted to start a bigger family.
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Hargitay always knew she wanted to adopt when she was a young child growing up with a stepmother and step-siblings. The early maternal instinct she had was further reinforced during a family holiday in Thailand:
“I remember seeing children alone on the street in Thailand and India when I was 9 or 10 years old and wondering where their mothers were. They were incredibly resourceful, kind, and intelligent. I remember thinking, ” I want to take them all home!” because I had that maternal instinct even when I was so young.
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Around 2010, after getting married in 2004 and marrying Hermann, the couple decided to start the adoption process. The pair underwent trial and error and a five-hour house visit without success:
There were many situations that ended in failure. Many different kinds of difficulties [and] then, after setbacks, a great hope [which] was finally destroyed. However, the most significant event in terms of what it means to support the formation of a family, despite the irony, was the worst disappointment.
The couple began to feel the emotional toll of having their hopes of a successful adoption repeatedly thwarted by various factors, such as the mother changing her mind at the last minute in one case that Hargitay described as very “painful,” to say the least. However, in the end, they were able to succeed due to their tenacity, perseverance, and reliance on each other.
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Just weeks before arriving in the United States, the Hargitay-Hermann family welcomed precious baby Amaya Josephine Hermann. Hargitay and her husband were overjoyed to have a little girl and immediately fell in love with her. Her younger brother Andrew Nicolas, who was born two months earlier, joined the group four to six months later.
Because the couple believed they had adopted everything they needed, Andrew was a bonus child. But when their lawyer called them again to ask if they were interested, they couldn’t refuse. His devoted mother shared the following about what protective elder brother August had to say about the whole situation:
“August believes he came up with the whole idea! I want a baby sister,” he added and Amaya appeared. Just as he said, “I want a baby brother,” Andrew arrived. August is in a strong and positive spirit. mind.
The golden love story of Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann
As parents of their own, it’s clear that Hargitay and Hermann recognize the value of creating a family that embraces all cultures. The way they raise their children says a lot about them as people and as a marriage.
Hermann was born in New York but lived in Germany until he was ten years old. He returned to the United States and attended Yale University where he learned English, improved it, and spent some time teaching English before switching to acting. After discovering his calling, Hermann landed a guest role on the second season of the highly-rated drama “Law & Order: SVU,” where he met Hargitay, who later became a series regular and became his wife.
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The couple first met on set and went on their first date before marrying in 2004. When Hermann asked Hargitay to church, she reportedly knew right away that he was the one for her:
“I just knew, and again, it’s like, you know, listen, the story about your husband asking you on your first date to church, and you’re like, ‘Really, Peter? Really?’ I literally cried because it was so amazing. Petr mistakenly thought that I was so moved by the service that I cried, but in reality, I was just overcome with emotion when I realized that he was the one.
Hermann presents his feelings a little more philosophically when he describes the moment he realized Hargitay was the one for him. To quote Hermann:
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On Mariska’s 40th birthday, I really saw her with all the people she loved by her side. It was as if Mariska had finally found the soil in which she longed to be planted. I wanted to be a part of that land because there were so many people and love. And at that point, I actually became a lot of dirt rather than simply parting it.
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They married in 2004 when Hermann proposed on one knee, wearing a gorgeous band made of vintage platinum set with nine round diamonds.
Hermann attributes the pair’s continued happiness as a married couple to the fact that they always manage to find their way back to each other in good times and bad: “It’s the way we find our way back to each other. In this really absurd way, we can swing back and forth over the course of any given day, with the fundamental understanding that our ultimate goal remains the same.
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Hargitay and Hermann made the perfect family with their three beautiful children. They faced challenges head-on as they started their ideal family, but fought through them as a team and eventually came out victorious.
Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann’s journey to building their dream family was not without difficulties. However, with their unwavering commitment and love, they have created a strong and prosperous family unit. Their story serves as an inspiration to others facing the challenges of parenthood, highlighting the power of perseverance and the limitless love that can be found in unconventional ways.