Adriana Seminario was born in Veracruz, Mexico, the second of three children of Juan and Rosalindina Yulgera. The family had Spanish ancestors who settled in Guadalajara, Mexico, so the young Adriana was always close to her family. She was five when her parents separated, so she moved with her younger sister to live with her aunt and uncle, where she became known as Juan and learned the Spanish language. Eventually she ended up with her cousin, Jose, whom she had never met, but they became fast friends when Jose helped Adriana with her homework and offered her a ride home on his motorcycle.
In high school, Adriana became friends with another girl, Hildegard Cano, who is the mother of one of Adriana’s younger sisters, Nelly. When Hildegard discovered that her daughter wanted to become a doctor, she encouraged Adriana to try out for the honor roll, which she did, but lost out to Laura Delgadillo in the process. Shortly thereafter, Hildegard discovered that Adriana was not really Puerto Rican, as the name on her birth certificate read. In her words: “I was born in Mexico. I am not a Puerto Rican, not Hispanic.”
A few years later, Adriana decided to enter the competitive atmosphere of the medical school, where she hoped to be among those chosen to represent the United States in the Miss World competition. After taking the preliminary round, she was disappointed when her results were announced before she had a chance to show what she had been working toward all along. Fortunately, in the end, she was still able to capture her second place finish and earn herself a place in the Miss World later that year. Although Nationality issues were brought up later in her career, no harm came to the image of Adriana Seminario. She has remained a strong, talented, and respectable performer throughout her whole career, and continues to work in the medical industry today.