Born just a little over two years apart, Maya has always been close to her big sister. In August 2020, she spoke about their closeness while introducing Kamala for her Democratic National Convention speech. "Growing up, heaven help the poor kid who picked on me because my sister would be there in a flash to have my back," she joked. "Now we've got your back as you and Joe [Biden] fight to protect our democracy."
The two are so close that Maya even officiated Kamala's 2014 wedding to Douglas Emhoff, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. During a July 2019 interview with the Washington Post, Kamala referred to her bond with Maya as "unbreakable," adding, "When I think about it, all of the joyous moments in our lives, all of the challenging moments, all of the moments of transition, we have always been together."