Gloria’s father Jose Fajardo was a proud anti-communist, who served for multiple tours as an officer in the United States Army in Vietnam. He is thought to have been exposed to Agent Orange, a defoliant used extensively during the Vietnam war to clear combat areas. He later developed multiple sclerosis, and was nursed by his daughter for many years. He died in 1980.

Gloria’s mother, Gloria García Pérez de Fajardo, now living in Miami, ran a school in Cuba in the 1950s for kindergarten students.

Gloria became romantically involved with the Miami Sound Machine’s band leader, Emilio Estefan, in 1976. She and Emilio married on September 1, 1978. They have a son, Nayib (born September 2, 1980) and a daughter, Emily Marie (born December 5, 1994).