Mariska Hargitay Adopts a Daughter

Law & Order: SVU star and hubby Peter Hermann are now parents of two

Mariska Hargitay is "deliriously happy."

The Emmy winner has adopted a daughter with hubby Peter Hermann, their second child together.

"From the minute she was born, she was just surprisingly alert and so full of love," Hargitay tells People, adding that the child was born in the U.S. last week.

Their new arrival's name?

Little Amaya Josephine joins 4-year-old brother August in the Hargitay-Hermann home.

"He is over the moon," Hargitay says of August. "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."

And why the decision to adopt?

"We were considering both international and domestic adoption and we're thrilled that this is the way our prayers were answered," the 47-year-old Law & Order: SVU star says. "We talked a lot about mixed-race adoptions, and we are very excited that we are now a multiracial family. We're just so happy she's here."

Hargitay and Hermann, who appears occasionally on SVU as one darn fine defense attorney, tied the knot in 2004.