Heather (Hiemstra) Gemmen grew up in on a hobby farm in Canada. Her father (Ollie Hiemstra) and mother (Willie Schinkle), both immigrants from the Netherlands, were Christian people who opened their home to numerous children in the foster care system...some of whom still claim this family as their own even as adults. Gemmen's siblings by birth are all older than she (Brian, Duane, Sandra, and Mark). Gemmen attended a private Christian school and was surrounded by good friends and relatives all her life.

Gemmen married Steven Gemmen in 1990, while they both attended Calvin College, a Christian liberal arts school in Grand Rapids Michigan. She became a United States citizen in 1995. During her marriage, Gemmen gave birth to three children, Chad, Simon, and Rachael, and adopted one other, Deshawn. She used her BA in English to become a professional book editor. In 2004, she and her husband were divorced. Heather remarried a year later, Lawrence Wilson.