Blue Bloods star Vanessa Ray reveals she adopted a baby boy with husband Landon Beard last year… and Mariska Hargitay’s husband Peter Hermann helped them through the process
Blue Bloods star Vanessa Ray revealed this week that she and her husband Landon Beard adopted their first child, a baby boy, late last year.
The actress, 42, shared PEOPLE Thursday that their son Isaac Ray Beard was born on Nov. 7 and that the adoption was a “whirlwind” for the couple.
She said her co-star Peter Hermann “graciously” helped them through the process, as he and his wife Mariska Hargitay have two adopted children of their own.
After finding a lawyer and spending a year preparing paperwork, Ray and Beard were matched with Isaac’s birth mother just four weeks before she was due to give birth.
“He kind of came into our lives, it was quite a whirlwind,” she said.
Ray explained that she and Beard — who married in 2015 — initially “weren’t quite sure if we were going to have kids” or if it made sense to them.
But that all changed when an “overwhelming feeling of family” came over her on the set of the CBS drama.
Blue Bloods star Vanessa Ray revealed this week that she and her husband Landon Beard adopted their first child, a baby boy, late last year; the couple seen in 2018
The actress, 42, told PEOPLE on Thursday that their son Isaac Ray Beard was born on November 7 and that the adoption process has been a “whirlwind” for the couple; Ray seen in 2022
“I was at work one day, honestly I was about to have a family dinner and I just had this overwhelming feeling of family and what I love about our life and all these things,” she recalled.
She then called Beard in tears and told him, “I I think we should be parents and I think we should adopt.”
Ray confided to her co-star Bridget Moynahan about their decision to adopt and that the actress told her to contact Hermann, who guest-starred on Blue Bloods.
Ray still had to work with Hermann, but that didn’t stop the actor from giving the couple some guidance.
Hermann and Hargitay adopted two of their three children.
The married couple adopted daughter Amaya, now 12, in April 2011 and their son Andrew, now 12, in October 2011. They also share their biological son August, 17.
Ray recalled how Hermann “really held our hands and walked us through everything we needed to know about adoption.”
She recalled him telling the couple that adoption is like “almost a lot of first dates” and that there can be “a lot of heartbreak that comes with it.”
But for Ray and Beard, the process was a “whirlwind” and was completed in just over a year.
After finding a lawyer and spending a year preparing paperwork, Ray and Beard were matched with Isaac’s birth mother just four weeks before she was due to give birth.
She said her co-star Peter Hermann “graciously” helped them through the process, as he and his wife Mariska Hargitay have two adopted children of their own. The couple adopted daughter Amaya, now 12, in April 2011 and their son Andrew, now 12, in October 2011. They also share their biological son August, 17
Ray explained that she and Beard — who married in 2015 — initially “weren’t quite sure if we were going to have kids” or if it made sense to them. But that all changed when an “overwhelming feeling of family” came over her on the set of the CBS drama
She explained that it took “about a year” for them to get their affairs in order and then they could register with an adoption agency.
Just days later, Ray said they flew to meet a potential birth mother.
‘It went super fast. She said, “He’s due in four weeks, so we need to do this quickly.” We were like, ‘Wow, okay,'” the actress recalled.
Ray revealed to PEOPLE that Isaac arrived a week early on November 7.
She joked that she and her husband ‘credit Isaac’ [to] thus ending the SAG-AFTRA strike, as it arrived a day before it concluded after 118 days.
‘It all happened in three weeks, basically from zero to three weeks. Then we brought him out and it was incredible,” she said.
Ray and Beard had the support of their friends, who helped them set up a “makeshift nursery” in just one day after learning Isaac would be theirs.
Ray said caring for three-month-old Isaac was a breeze because he “loves to sleep and loves to eat”; Ray seen in 2021
“We’re so focused on him right now,” Ray told PEOPLE. ‘And just shower him with love and try to take in every moment of his littleness, his little life’; the couple pictured in December 2023
‘I’m not kidding, within 24 hours we had put together a makeshift nursery. A crib, pacifiers, bottles, Baby Brezza, everything. We had everything we needed from our friends,” she said.
‘We didn’t have to buy anything. We really didn’t do that right away, at least not for the first three months.’
They chose the name “Isaac” — which means “one who laughs or rejoices” — after Beard reminded her that she expressed her preference for the name during a walk together more than a decade ago.
“I think that name has been with us for a long time. We never knew we would ever have to use it and here we are. He laughs a lot and is very happy,” she said.
Ray said caring for three-month-old Isaac was a breeze because he “loves to sleep and loves to eat.”
“We’re so focused on him right now,” Ray told PEOPLE. “And just showering him with love and trying to take in every moment of his littleness, his little life.”
Ray joined the cast of Blue Bloods in 2013 during its fourth season on CBS. The show is currently in its 14th season.