Harry Shum Jr. has spent much of his career dancing, acting and performing in front of millions, but one of his most important roles happens far away from television cameras.
The Glee and Grey’s Anatomy actor is the father of one child, a daughter named Xia, whom he shares with his longtime wife, actress and dancer Shelby Rabara.
Xia was born in March 2019 and is now 7 years old. While her parents occasionally discuss family life, they have made a conscious effort to give their daughter a childhood largely outside the celebrity spotlight.
Interest in Shum’s family has increased again in September 2026 after the 44-year-old was announced as a contestant on Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars.
How Many Children?
Harry Shum Jr. has one child.
He and Rabara welcomed their daughter, Xia, in March 2019.
There is currently no reliable announcement confirming that the couple have welcomed a second child.
That makes Xia the only publicly confirmed child of Shum and Rabara as of September 2026. Recent reporting about the Grey’s Anatomy cast also identifies Shum as the father of one daughter.
Because the couple keeps Xia relatively private, there are considerably fewer details about her childhood than might be expected given her father’s fame.
Meet Xia
Xia arrived approximately four years after her parents married.
Shum and Rabara announced in November 2018 that they were expecting their first baby. They subsequently revealed their daughter’s arrival in March 2019.
Rather than regularly placing Xia in front of cameras, Shum has generally offered only occasional glimpses of fatherhood.
One example came in 2021 when he shared a photograph carrying his daughter on his back during a family trip to a state park in Northern California.
The approach allows Shum to acknowledge an important part of his life without making his daughter a public personality.
She Loves Dancing
Xia appears to have inherited one particularly predictable interest from her parents.
She loves to dance.
That is hardly surprising considering the family background.
Shum was a professional dancer long before becoming famous as Mike Chang on Glee. Rabara is also an experienced dancer who previously performed as a Laker Girl before building a career in acting and voice work.
In a 2025 interview with Shondaland, Shum and Rabara discussed how their daughter’s enthusiasm for movement influenced their creative work.
They explained that watching Xia enjoy dancing became part of the inspiration behind their children’s book Martee Dares to Dance.
A Dancing Family
Dance is deeply connected to the Shum-Rabara family story.
Before his acting breakthrough, Shum worked professionally with performers including Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and Mariah Carey.
His dance ability later helped him land film work in the Step Up franchise before Glee transformed his career.
Rabara has a similarly strong background.
She began dancing as a child, attended UCLA and worked professionally as a dancer before establishing herself as an actress and voice performer. She is especially recognizable to animation fans as the voice of Peridot in Steven Universe.
Xia is therefore growing up in a household where dance is much more than a hobby.
It is part of both parents’ personal and professional history.
Their Children’s Book
Parenthood eventually gave Shum and Rabara another way to work together.
The couple co-authored Martee Dares to Dance, a children’s picture book centered on confidence, movement and overcoming embarrassment.
The story follows a boy named Martee who loves dancing but becomes hesitant to express himself after an embarrassing experience.
With encouragement from his grandmother, friend and an unexpected Martian companion, he begins rediscovering his confidence.
The book reflects the couple’s belief that children should feel comfortable expressing themselves creatively rather than worrying about how other people might judge them.
For Shum and Rabara, having Xia changed the way they thought about children’s stories.
Xia Inspired Them
Shum has specifically explained that becoming parents influenced what he and Rabara wanted to see in children’s books.
Rabara frequently read to Xia, giving the couple considerable exposure to children’s literature.
They eventually felt that something reflecting their own world—particularly their relationship with dance and creative expression—was missing.
That realization helped lead to Martee Dares to Dance.
Instead of writing a story about turning children into professional dancers, they focused on confidence.
The message is about allowing children to move freely, explore emotions and discover their individual forms of expression.
Xia’s presence therefore had a direct influence on an entirely new part of her parents’ careers.
Wife Shelby Rabara
Harry Shum Jr.’s wife and Xia’s mother is Shelby Rabara.
The couple’s relationship began long before either became a parent.
Shum and Rabara started dating in 2007.
One memorable part of their early relationship was their first date, when they went to see Dreamgirls. Shum later recalled that both became emotional watching the movie and that the experience helped them open up to each other.
They became engaged in 2014 and married in Costa Rica in November 2015.
Several of Shum’s former Glee colleagues attended the wedding.
Four years later, Xia made them a family of three.
Marriage After Parenthood
In June 2026, Shum provided a rare update about his marriage and family life.
Speaking as he approached 11 years of marriage to Rabara, the actor said maintaining a long relationship involves learning how to love someone through different stages of life.
Parenthood clearly represents one of those stages.
Shum explained that couples also need opportunities to remember that they are more than parents or spouses.
His comments offered an unusually personal glimpse into how he and Rabara have navigated marriage after welcoming Xia.
The couple had been together for years before becoming parents, meaning their relationship has evolved alongside significant changes in both of their careers.
Keeping Xia Private
Despite occasionally discussing his daughter, Shum does not regularly expose Xia to the public.
There are occasional family photographs and stories, but she is not treated as part of his professional brand.
That distinction is increasingly notable for celebrity families.
Shum has millions of fans from Glee, Shadowhunters, Crazy Rich Asians, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Grey’s Anatomy, yet his daughter’s everyday life remains largely unknown.
Even as Xia gets older, Shum and Rabara appear comfortable maintaining that boundary.
The result is that most publicly available information focuses on how becoming parents changed them rather than private details about their daughter.
Dad on Grey’s Anatomy
Fatherhood has unfolded during another productive period in Shum’s acting career.
Since 2022, he has played Dr. Benson “Blue” Kwan on Grey’s Anatomy.
The role introduced Shum to another generation of television viewers after his earlier success as Mike Chang on Glee and Magnus Bane on Shadowhunters.
In 2026, he also appeared as Andy in Netflix’s Voicemails for Isabelle.
The romantic comedy became a streaming success, reaching No. 1 on Netflix’s English-language global chart following its June release, according to ABC’s current biography.
Shum has therefore continued expanding his career while raising Xia with Rabara.
Back to Dancing
September 2026 brings another interesting chapter for the family.
Shum has officially joined Dancing with the Stars Season 35.
He will compete alongside professional partner Jenna Johnson when the season begins with a two-night premiere on September 15 and 16.
The casting brings Shum back to the skill that originally launched his entertainment career.
He enters with significantly more dance experience than the average celebrity contestant, although ballroom competition presents its own challenges.
For Xia, it also means watching her father return to an activity that is already an important part of their family.
Fatherhood Today
For anyone searching for Harry Shum Jr.’s children, the answer remains straightforward: he has one daughter, Xia Shum, with wife Shelby Rabara.
Xia was born in March 2019 and is 7 years old in 2026.
She may not have a public career, but her influence on her parents is already visible.
Her love of movement helped inspire Martee Dares to Dance, while becoming parents changed the way Shum and Rabara think about creativity, marriage and the stories they want to tell younger audiences.
Now Shum’s return to the dance floor creates an appealing full-circle moment.
The performer who built his early career through dance is heading into the Dancing with the Stars ballroom while raising a daughter who has discovered her own love of movement.
Whether Xia eventually follows either parent into entertainment is impossible to know. For now, Shum and Rabara seem determined to give her something arguably more valuable—the freedom to discover that answer for herself.
