R'han's family defected to the Federation twenty years ago, however his mother was always a double agent working with the Tal'shiar.. She was found out by her husband who genuinely wished to become a Federation citizen and was killed during ritual combat. R'han was old enough to understand and accept the necessity of his father's actions, but never forgave him.

Fortunately for R'han the details of his mother's secret plans were never discovered by the Federation and when he was of age he was accepted in the academy. Widely viewed as a Vulcan most never even considered he might be a Romulan. Ironically his Romulan personality traits made him more likable than most Vulcans. Unfortunately, despite the many years on Vulcan he lacks the discipline and telepathic ability that is fairly common amongst the race he supposedly is even though he has worked diligently on it for years.

R'han spends the majority of his time hiding the fact that he is a Romulan and where ever possible allows people to assume he is a Vulcan, but his service record notes that he is a naturalized Federation citizen.