Personal life
Jayapal became a U.S. citizen in 2000.[12] She is the author of Pilgrimage: One Woman's Return to a Changing India, published in March 2000.[51][52]
Jayapal lives in Seattle with her husband Steven R. Williamson.[53] Janak, Jayapal's child from a previous marriage, is gender non-binary.[54] In 2019 Jayapal publicly wrote that she had chosen to abort a pregnancy because the pregnancy would risk her and the potential child's health.[55]
Jayapal's older sister Susheela has served on the Multnomah County Commission since 2019.[56]