Mariska Hargitay had the best time with her family for her 60th birthday.
During a Feb. 8 appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Hargitay revealed what she did for her 60th birthday in January, and she said her husband, Peter Hermann, threw her the most "magical" surprise party ever.
"He just outdid himself, and it was insane," Hargitay said.
The “Law & Order: SVU” star explained that Hermann got each one of their three kids, August, 17, Amaya, 12, and Andrew, 12, to sing for her, which made the party "spectacular."
"My oldest son sang first. ... He sang two songs. He sang 'Blue Bayou' by Linda Ronstadt, which is one of my favorite songs, and he also sang 'Blue Christmas.' Yeah, it's a little inside joke that we have," Hargitay explained. "And then my daughter sang 'Long Live' by Taylor Swift. And then my youngest son, who is 12, sang 'Crazy Train' by Ozzy Osbourne."
"That's fantastic. That is so perfect," Fallon said of her kids' song choices.
"It was so nuts," Hargitay said, adding her kids do not sing — much less in public.
However, Hargitay added that wasn't the only "highlight" of the evening. She said it was also great to see party guest Ice-T's reaction to her son singing "Crazy Train."
The Joyful Heart founder noted that Ice-T got up on a table and started throwing up the rock and roll hand sign as Andrew attempted the tune.
"Then (Ice-T) was heard saying, 'I toured with Ozzy, and that kid sounds good,'" Hargitay recalled as Fallon and his studio audience laughed.
Hargitay and Ice-T are longtime co-stars on "Law & Order: SVU."
In March 2018, Hargitay spoke more about her bond with her kids in an interview she did with People.
“The thing that’s made me a better parent is my kids,” she said. “Because they taught me to really listen. My husband is my North Star, and my kids are my teachers.”
“Our family is so perfect, or at least perfect for me,” she said. “Together we’re just this whole, happy, joyful, chaotic, crazy unit. I’ve never known anything that was more right.”
Speaking to Glamour in 2021, Hargitay said that she is different than her "SVU" character, and that comes through especially at home: "I like to laugh. like to make my kids laugh. And comedy has a real currency in our household.”
Hargitay also spoke about how her own parents shaped her. Hargitay's mom, the actor Jayne Mansfield, died in a car accident when she was a toddler, leaving her father, actor and former Mr. Universe bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, to raise her. She said she spent her childhood in a "frozen place" during her interview with Glamour.
Read on to learn more about Hargitay and Hermann's three kids.
August Miklos Friedrich Hermann, 17
On June 28, 2006, Hargitay and Hermann welcomed their first child, son August Miklos Friedrich Hermann.
In January 2007, Hargitay told Self magazine, according to People, that she developed gestational diabetes in her third trimester with August. Hargitay explained she ate to cope with the 15-hour work days on the set of “Law and Order: SVU."
“I was overwhelmed by my lack of energy," she said. "All I could do to survive was to eat.”
“First time pregnant, you’re like, I gotta eat more! I have to make sure he has enough of every single food group!" she added. "I did get into eating too much. This pregnancy was really hard for me at the end. I wasn’t mobile."
Hargitay ended up giving birth to August via an emergency cesarean section delivery.
In a later interview with her charity, the Joyful Heart Foundation, Hargitay described her son as a "compassionate guy."
As her son got older, Hargitay found help and a community for August, who has a stutter.
"Our son stutters," she told People in a May 2023 interview.
“The thing about stuttering, and what I’ve learned, is so many times people who stutter try not to speak or try to switch the word or not say anything, get out of it, hide,” she added. “It’s so heartbreaking to think that all these amazing humans with so much to offer would be holding it in because of how the world treats them, or for fear.”
Hargitay and Hermann were inducted into the Stuttering Association for the Young’s Hall of Fame in 2023 for their work with the group and brought all three of their children to the induction event and posed together on the red carpet.
In January 2024, August kicked off the new year by going on a fun family trip to Kenya with his family.
On Instagram, Hargitay posted a cute photo of her and August on a safari ride.
She captioned the pic, "#Safarilife."
Amaya Josephine Hermann, 12
In April 2011, Hargitay and Hermann shared the news that they had adopted daughter Amaya Josephine Hermann.
“I’m deliriously happy,” Hargitay told People at the time. “From the minute she was born, she was just surprisingly alert and so full of love.”
Hargitay said that she and her hubby considered both "international and domestic adoption," and that Amaya ended up being from the United States. "We’re thrilled that this is the way our prayers were answered,” she said.
Hargitay added that she and Hermann were deliberate in how they chose to expand their family. “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," she said.
August thought that Amaya's arrival was all his idea, according to his mom. During a 2012 interview with Parents.com, according to the Joyful Heart Foundation, Hargitay explained that August came home from a playdate one day and said that he wanted a little sister.
“When he said that, my husband, Peter, and I looked at each other and replied, 'It is so interesting you said that,'" she recalled.
"When we went ahead with the adoption, August thought it was his idea. Then he wanted a little boy. We said, really? A miracle happened and our second son, Andrew, fell out of the sky and into our home,” she said.
Andrew Nicolas Hargitay Hermann, 12
Andrew is Hermann and Hargitay's youngest child. The couple adopted him in October 2011, months after the arrival of Amaya in April of that same year, according to People.
In 2019, Hargitay told People that Andrew's arrival was "a little unexpected."
“We adopted Amaya, and Andrew, I always describe (him) as this angel that fell out of the sky,” she said at the time.
“It’s something that happened very quickly, when adoption can take a long time," Hargitay added. "We were so beautifully and surprisingly … not because we’re not in sync, but surprisingly in sync about something so huge. So momentous.”
During her November 2012 interview with Parents.com, Hargitay explained how she catered to her kids' differences at the time.
"We do a Big Muscles class for Andrew, who was born premature. That class has helped him with balance and development. My daughter, on the other hand, loves music. She comes alive and just starts dancing when the music and drumming starts... and August is a swimmer."
In May 2023, Andrew made a rare appearance with his parents and siblings when he stepped out to attend the Stuttering Association for the Young Benefit Gala in New York City.
On the red carpet, Andrew posed for pictures alongside his family and looked adorable wearing a blue blazer over a blue shirt.