Mariska Hargitay's adoption heartbreak

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" star Mariska Hargitay, who with her actor husband Peter Hermann adopted two infants over the course of the past year, says in a new interview that an earlier attempt at adoption ended in heartbreak for the couple.

"It was nothing short of devastating," Hargitay, 48, says in the May issue of Good Housekeeping.

Hargitay and Hermann, who have been married nearly eight years and have a biological son, August, 6, daughter Amaya Josephine, 1, adopted last April and Andrew Nicolas, 10 months, adopted in October.

But before this, Hargitay said, they spent months bonding with a young pregnant woman who planned to give her baby up for adoption. She did so, and Hargitay and Hermann spent two days with the baby girl, whom they named. And then, says the actress, "the long and short of it: The birth mother changed her mind."

Despite that heart-wrenching turn of events, Hargitay believes it was for the best. "I mean, it was so painful for us, but it was deeply joyful and deeply right for her. And so when she changed her mind, I felt honored to be part of the process."

She credits her religious faith with helping her push through that emotional upheaval. "It was a profound blessing to have been part of the making of a union; that God had picked me. I don't even want to say that I helped, but for some reason I was there, and I was part of a decision that was so beautiful and sacred.

"I'm a woman in my 40s. I've lived a life, I know about decision-making and ramifications and choices, and how they affect everything you do. That's age and wisdom. But someone very young -- they don't know! They can't know yet."

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Hargitay has remained in touch with the woman, she says, and while she does not see the infant who was almost her child, she says, "I feel I'm forever connected to her."