Mariska Hargitay says that the adoption process is "not for the faint of heart."

The Law & Order: SVU star successfully adopted two children last year; Amaya, now 13 months, and Andrew, now nine-months-old.

But the actress says that her initial attempt to add to her family with husband Peter Hermann was not easy.

"I'm not gonna lie," Mariska, 42, told Good Housekeeping magazine. "There were wrenching moments. I say to everybody, Adoption is not for the faint of heart.'"

She recalled being handed a newborn baby and bonding with the little girl before "the birth mother changed her mind" two days later.

"It was nothing short of devastating. Butthis is what I've come to understand about life: It was probably the greatest, happiest ending. I mean, it was so painful for us, but it was deeply joyful and deeply right for her.

It was soon after that that she got matched with another woman expecting a baby and she got to "pull Amaya out" and then hugged the birth mother "for a long time."

A few months later, their family grew with the addition of her second son who was born two months premature. Mariska also has a biological five-year-old boy called August.