T'Ama was the product of an unexpected pon farr when her mother was serving on board her father's mining vessel in deep space. Her mother returned to Vulcan during the pregnancy and she was born and raised on Vulcan for her early childhood and teen years. Her parent's co-parenting relationship was contentious, and her mother was often the victor in their disagreements on how to raise their daughter, if only because Gavin was usually off-world and not physically there much. She chafed at her restrictive Vulcan upbringing, made worse by the fact she was not pure Vulcan and not well accepted amongst her mother's family. As a result she was much closer to her father and treasured his visits and frequent video calls.
Her Vulcan family considered her a difficult and rebellious child, which became more intense when her mother and step-father had her younger brother. By the time she was 15 tensions at home were so high she begged to be allowed to go live with her father. Eventually she got her wish with no small amount of drama, and went to live with her father as a civilian aboard a Federation ship where she met her grandmother for the first time - a retired admiral who had served in Starfleet just after the Federation was founded. She immediately found a role model in her grandmother and her stories of adventure in Starfleet, and decided she wanted nothing more than to join Starfleet and follow in her grandmother's footsteps.
