Early life and family
Born Wen Linyan (温麟衍) in Shanghai, China on January 27, 1983,[6] to Ying Sandy Zhang and Xiaolu Wen,[7] Wen moved with her parents to the U.S. when she was eight, by then having the English name Leana Sheryle Wen.[8] Granted political asylum, the Wen family lived in East Los Angeles and Compton, California.[9][10][11] In 2003, Wen and her family became U.S. citizens.[10]
Wen's mother, who died of breast cancer in 2010, first worked as a hotel room cleaner and video store clerk before becoming an elementary school teacher.[11][12] Her father delivered newspapers and was a dishwasher, later serving as technology manager for The Chinese Daily News in Los Angeles.[13][11]
Wen married South Africa native Sebastian Neil Walker in Boston in February 2012, after a blessing ceremony in Cape Town in November 2011.[13] They have two children: a son born in 2017 and a daughter born in 2020.[14][15]