On 10 June 2005, Van der Vaart married Sylvie Meis and on 28 May 2006, their son Damián Rafael was born.
Some of the media have described the couple as the "new Beckhams" but both of them denied the claims saying that they prefer to just live a normal life.

In the summer of 2009, Real Madrid wanted to sell Van der Vaart, but the player decided to stay in Madrid because his wife was undergoing cancer treatment there.
A year later, upon his move to England, Van der Vaart stated, "She had a very serious illness and it is true that she had to be treated at the Clinica Quiron.
Last season, they wanted me to leave but I couldn't leave for that reason.
Now she is well and the only thing that happened was that Madrid wanted to sell and I wanted to get back to enjoying playing football, and Tottenham are a great team that are going to give me the football opportunities that I need."

In 2010, Van der Vaart found out through emails that his wife was having an affair with a KLM airline pilot.
On New Year's Eve 2012, Van der Vaart and his wife separated.

As of August 2016, Van der Vaart is in a relationship with Dutch handball player Estavana Polman who plays for Danish club Team Esbjerg.
This was the main reason he moved to Denmark and chose to play for Midtjylland.
On 27 December 2016, they announced that they are expecting a child.
Their daughter Jesslynn was born in June 2017.
On 10 June 2005, Van der Vaart married Sylvie Meis and on 28 May 2006, their son Damián Rafael was born. Some of the media have described the couple as the "new Beckhams" but both of them denied the claims saying that they prefer to just live a normal life.
In the summer of 2009, Real Madrid wanted to sell Van der Vaart, but the player decided to stay in Madrid because his wife was undergoing cancer treatment there. A year later, upon his move to England, Van der Vaart stated, "She had a very serious illness and it is true that she had to be treated at the Clinica Quiron. Last season, they wanted me to leave but I couldn't leave for that reason. Now she is well and the only thing that happened was that Madrid wanted to sell and I wanted to get back to enjoying playing football, and Tottenham are a great team that are going to give me the football opportunities that I need."
In 2010, Van der Vaart found out through emails that his wife was having an affair with a KLM airline pilot. On New Year's Eve 2012, Van der Vaart and his wife separated.
As of August 2016, Van der Vaart is in a relationship with Dutch handball player Estavana Polman who plays for Danish club Team Esbjerg. This was the main reason he moved to Denmark and chose to play for Midtjylland. On 27 December 2016, they announced that they are expecting a child. Their daughter Jesslynn was born in June 2017.
Rafael van der Vaart