Vanessa Arevalo Mathison was born in Puerto Rico, and she lived there through high school. Her Instagram bio reveals she has both Mexican and Filipino heritage, and in June 2017, she added a reference to her Spanish heritage in an Instagram post. "Finally visited the medieval town where my ancestors are from – Arevalo, Spain (my maiden name is Arevalo)," she wrote. Vanessa added that she'd been able to verify her family's coat of arms via local documents, and noted she wished her father could have been there with her.

In general, Vanessa has been quite private about her background and childhood. Her father was reportedly a construction worker and her mother was a supermarket cashier. She was noticed by a modeling scout while she was still in high school and she went on to have a successful modeling career. She ultimately moved to New York City for modeling and did shoots in exotic locations such as Bora Bora at times. Modeling was Vanessa's career for nearly two decades, but she stepped away from it once she built her family with Cameron. "I haven't modeled since I got pregnant with Leila, so it's been just over two years. No plans to go back," Vanessa told People in 2008. Cameron and Vanessa welcomed their son, Lucas, in 2003 and then Leila in 2006.

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