I no longer watch Law & Order: SVU (the Christina Lahti-Sharon Stone story lines finally killed the series for me), but I still have residual goodwill for Mariska Hargitay, just because she seems like an awesome person. So I’m really, really happy for her news: Mariska confirmed to People Magazine last night that she and her hottie husband Peter Hermann have adopted a baby girl. They named her Amaya Josephine! You can see the photo of Mariska and Amaya here, at People.
Mariska Hargitay has a big surprise to share. The Law & Order: SVU star and her husband, actor Peter Hermann, have adopted a baby girl, she tells PEOPLE exclusively.
Baby Amaya Josephine was born about a week ago and is from the United States.
“I’m deliriously happy,” Hargitay, 47, tells PEOPLE. “From the minute she was born, she was just surprisingly alert and so full of love.”
“We were considering both international and domestic adoption and we’re thrilled that this is the way our prayers were answered,” she adds. “We talked a lot about mixed-race adoptions, and we are very excited that we are now a multi-racial family. We’re just so happy she’s here.”
And there’s one family member who’s more excited than anyone: Hargitay’s 4-year-old son, August.
“He is over the moon,” says the actress. “He calls her his baby because he says the whole thing was his idea. He always talks about how he’s going to protect her. He’s going to be a great big brother.”
[From People]
Any thoughts on Mariska’s open discussion of her now multi-racial family? Is it even a big deal at this point? I don’t think so. If she didn’t mention it, I wonder if anyone would have even brought it up. I also think it’s interesting that she ended up adopting domestically, like Sandra Bullock. Although, unlike Bullock, it sounds like Mariska isn’t disrespecting international adoptions in general, she makes it sound like all options were on the table, and this is just their experience. Anyway, congratulations to Mariska, Peter and August on the new addition to their family!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
