Mariska Hargitay Knew Her Husband Was “The One” After He Made Her SOB on Their First Date

For Mariska Hargitay, having been the Law & Order star for nearly 24 years now isn’t the only long-running achievement of her life. While the show is a huge part of her life, her family with Peter Hermann is still a priority for her. The couple has been together for over 20 years and shows no signs of stopping. And just like any great love story, theirs has a fascinating first date tale.

They met while starring in Mariska’s show.

In 2001, Mariska was filming season 3 of Law & Order, not realizing that her yet another guest star of the week would stick around for much longer. She later revealed to Drew Barrymore that when she first saw him, she thought: “Who is that Clark Gable, superman guy that I need to marry today?” She was, of course, implying that Hermann is quite a good-looking guy.

Hargitay said she was pretty nervous around him, to the point that she didn’t know what to do with herself. She tried breaking the tension with a joke, but it didn’t work. However, she did admit that they later found a way to communicate and had a “beautiful courtship.”

She knew he was ’the one’ right away.

For their first date, Hermann asked Hargitay to join him for a church service. Somewhere during the service, Mariska realized that he was the man she wanted to spend her life with: “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.”

In 2004, Mariska and Peter tied the knot, knowing they had found soulmates. Fast forward nearly 20 years later, and they’re still madly in love. Peter said that their secret lies in having fun together.: “I never thought I would have this much laughter in my life. Not just actual laughter, but also how Mariska is just the embodiment of laughter — of joy.”

They have three children together.

Mariska and Peter’s love continued to grow along with their family. In 2006, they welcomed their first son, August. Hargitay was 42 at the time. In 2011, they realized they wanted more kids and decided to adopt a girl, Amaya. The couple considered having a mixed-race family, so Amaya was truly a blessing.

The TV star said at the time: “I’m deliriously happy. From the minute she was born, she was just surprisingly alert and so full of love.”

But Hermann and Hargitay didn’t want to stop at two kids. Just a few months after adopting Amaya, they adopted again. This time, a baby boy, Andrew. Mariska explained that they could feel he belonged to them: “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!’ We knew this was our guy. Everything about it felt right. It felt divinely right.”

Of course, Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann aren’t the only Hollywood couple that has decided to adopt. Many other famous people had so much love in their hearts that they chose to share it by adopting a baby.