The children of Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann

August Hermann was born by emergency caesarean section on June 28, 2006, when Hargitay was 42 years old. For the new mom, August was a long time coming. “Nobody wanted to be pregnant more than me. From the moment I found out, I was wearing full maternity pants.” she told people. “My stomach was totally flat, mind you, but she was so excited.”

During her third trimester, the actress was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, forcing her to change her diet. “The first time you’re pregnant, you think, I have to eat more! I have to make sure I get enough of each food group! I started eating too much,” she confessed. “This pregnancy was very difficult for me at the end. I had no mobility.”

During his May 2023 interview with People, Hargitay’s husband, Hermann, opened up about August’s stutter and how it inspired the couple to get involved with the Stuttering Association for the Young. “It was extraordinary when we first heard his stutter to meet [SAY founder] taro [Alexander] and have someone to go to because many stutterers live in isolation,” he told the outlet. And there are so many people who come [to SAY] for the first time, and when they come they say they’ve never heard another person stutter.

She also said August’s stutter taught her the power of patience, adding: “It’s increasingly important that we give grace to take space and take time and let out the ideas that want to come out. And part of that is just talking. Talking. every day, that chance to just be.”