Mariska Hargitay's 3 Kids Are Growing Up Fast

Mariska Hargitay has been synonymously known as "Olivia Benson" for decades, but she's been called "Mom" since 2006. The "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" star married her co-star, Peter Hermann, who has a recurring role in the hit crime series, in 2004, and the lovebirds became parents two years later. Hargitay was 42 years old when she gave birth to her eldest son.

She told People, "I'm so grateful that I'm an older mom. Grateful that I became successful older. I don't know if I could have handled it when I was younger." It was also smart planning on her part since she had gotten into debt before she became famous, and raising children is expensive.

The actress, who's had a stunning transformation, admitted she wasn't the most live-in-the-moment kind of gal when she was younger, but today she appreciates everything. Five years after giving birth to August Hermann, Hargitay and her husband adopted two more kids: Amaya and Andrew Hermann. Their family of five is now complete, and the power couple savors every minute of it, whether they're winning Halloween with a group costume or attending the Olympics.

Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann's oldest child, August Hermann, was born in 2006 and clearly inherited his dad's height. Peter is reported 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and his son towers over Hargitay, who is a little under 5 feet, 8 inches tall. Mother and son, as well as Hargitay's daughter, Amaya Hermann, attended a lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building in April 2024, and Hargitay had to look up to make eye contact with him.

August also has a stutter and found a support group to provide help and guidance, and his parents were inducted into the Stuttering Association for the Young's Hall of Fame in 2023. "Our son stutters, and it was so beautiful to have this lovely community to introduce him to and learn about it from the experts," Hargitay explained to People.

Moreover, August graduated from high school in June 2024, something his famous parents had a hard time accepting. "We've been shuffling around our house for the last few months just muttering, 'Where's the time go? Where's the time go? What happened?'" Hargitay said during her acceptance speech for the Anniversary Tribute at the Gotham TV Awards while wiping away a tear from her eye.

Mariska Hargitay's only daughter was adopted in April 2011. The "Law & Order: SVU" star told Good Housekeeping that she and Peter Hermann always expected to adopt a child. She learned from a young age that blood isn't what makes a person part of your family — her own mother was killed in a car accident, and her stepmother became a surrogate mom to her. The fact Amaya Hermann is African American didn't bother her adoptive parents. "We were excited to have a multiracial family, because that's what the world is, and we want our family to reflect a realistic microcosm of the world," Hargitay told Good Housekeeping.

Amaya is clearly a Taylor Swift fan because she and her mom attended the premiere of the pop star's concert movie, "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," in October 2023. The mother-daughter duo hammed it up on the red carpet, making cute poses for the cameras and looking like total BFFs.

Mariska Hargitay's youngest child is named Andrew Hermann, and he was adopted in October 2011, only a few months after his sister joined the family. Because Andrew and Amaya Hermann are super close in age, they instantly felt connected to each other. When asked by People about adopting two kids in a short amount of time, Hargitay shared, "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!'" She knew Andrew was destined to be a member of their brood.

Like his older siblings, Andrew has attended red-carpet events, including the time he watched his mother get her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame back in 2013. He is also clearly a sports fan, cheering on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden and supporting the American gymnastics team at the 2024 Olympics.

He doesn't watch the show his mother is famous for, which led him to wonder why random people kept coming up to Hargitay and saying how much she means to them. Hargitay recounted a cute story to People, mentioning that though Andrew knows what her job is, he once hilariously asked her, "Why does everyone say 'I love you' when we're walking down the street?" When he's older, he'll get to watch his mom do her thing in hundreds of "Law & Order: SVU" episodes.