Auf der Maur did not meet her father until she was three years old. Gaboriau called Nick Auf der Maur after her daughter began questioning her about her father's identity. Reflecting on the encounter, Auf der Maur said "father realised my mother Linda was the love of his life because she'd offered the gift of this child without any demands. He fell madly in love with her pursued her for two years". Auf der Maur and Gaboriau married in 1978 when Melissa was six years old. The couple divorced in 1979 after which Auf der Maur traveled worldwide with her mother. A portion of Auf der Maur's childhood was spent living in "a circus caravan in Wales, a red post-office box truck in Morocco, and a hut in Kenya" with her mother. During her time in Kenya, she contracted three bouts of malaria and returned to Montreal.