April Lakata Cao is an American writer, author, homeschooling mother and military wife who has built a public profile around faith, family, motherhood and the experiences of military families. She was born and raised in Northern Virginia and has spent much of her adult life supporting her family while writing about marriage, parenting, faith and life in a military household.
Cao is also known for her marriage to Hung Cao, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former political candidate who became acting Secretary of the Navy in 2026. Their family has attracted renewed public attention because of Hung Cao’s government role, while April has continued to be recognized for her writing and work encouraging families.
Beyond her role as a military spouse and mother, April Lakata Cao is a published author and contributor whose work has appeared in Christian family publications. She also co-authored Call Me an American: Refugee to Patriot: Lessons Learned for a Strong America with her husband, giving her a direct role in documenting and presenting his family’s story of immigration, military service and American life.
April Lakata Cao Profile Summary
| Profile | Details |
| Full Name | April Lakata Cao |
| Known As | April Cao |
| Birth Year | 1977 |
| Age | 49 years old in 2026 |
| Birthplace | Northern Virginia, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Writer, author |
| Husband | Hung Cao |
| Children | Five |
| Religion | Christian |
| Known For | Writing, homeschooling, military-family advocacy |
| Notable Book | Call Me an American: Refugee to Patriot: Lessons Learned for a Strong America |
| Social Media | Instagram: @aprillakata |
Public biographies consistently identify April as a writer, homeschooling mother and wife of Hung Cao, while her publisher biography confirms her Northern Virginia background and writing career.
April Lakata Cao Early Life
April Lakata Cao was born and raised in Northern Virginia, United States. Although detailed information about her parents, childhood education and early years is not widely documented in authoritative public sources, her Northern Virginia upbringing is consistently included in her published author biography.
Her later life became closely connected to the military through her marriage to Hung Cao. The demands of military life meant that the family experienced frequent moves and periods when Hung was deployed, experiences that became important influences on April’s writing about marriage, parenting and family life.
April has described the realities of raising a family while dealing with constant moves, combat deployments, infertility and adoption. These experiences helped shape her interest in encouraging other mothers and military families who were navigating similar challenges.
April Lakata Cao Education
There is limited reliable public information about April Lakata Cao’s formal education. Unlike her professional writing career, her school and university history has not been extensively documented in the biographies published by her publisher and professional organizations.
Her life as a mother, however, eventually placed education at the center of her household. April became a homeschooling mother to her children, and homeschooling became an important part of the family’s lifestyle as they moved around the United States and the world because of Hung Cao’s military career.
Rather than publicly emphasizing academic credentials, April’s professional profile has focused on practical family life, faith, parenting and writing. Her experience as a homeschooling mother has also informed many of the subjects she discusses in her articles and family-oriented work.
April Lakata Cao Career
April Lakata Cao’s career has primarily been built around writing, publishing and encouraging families. She has written extensively about faith, marriage, motherhood, parenting and the particular challenges experienced by military families.
Writing and Publishing
Cao became a contributing author to the award-winning book Faith Deployed…Again, a work centered on the experiences of military families and faith. She has also been published in Focus on the Family’s Thriving Family Magazine and other online publications.
Her writing has covered subjects ranging from military homecomings and marriage to parenting, personal faith and navigating difficult seasons of life. In 2025, for example, she wrote about the emotional challenges surrounding military homecomings and the experience of welcoming a deployed spouse back into the family.
Cao has also worked as a ghostwriter for opinion pieces published in major American newspapers, including The Washington Post and The Washington Times.
Call Me an American
One of the most significant projects in April Lakata Cao’s publishing career has been Call Me an American: Refugee to Patriot: Lessons Learned for a Strong America, which she co-authored with Hung Cao.
The book tells Hung Cao’s story, including his family’s journey from Vietnam to the United States, his military career and his understanding of American identity. Published in 2024, the book gave April an opportunity to combine her writing experience with her perspective as Hung’s wife.
Writing About Military Families
A major theme throughout Cao’s career has been the experience of military families. Her work draws on her own experiences of deployments, relocation, parenting and maintaining family life while her husband served.
She has particularly expressed an interest in supporting families connected to special operations and special warfare communities. Her writing therefore combines personal experience with encouragement aimed at other mothers and military spouses.
April Lakata Cao Trending: Why Is April Lakata Cao Famous?
April Lakata Cao has attracted renewed attention in 2026 largely because of her husband Hung Cao’s growing prominence in the U.S. government. In April 2026, Hung Cao became acting Secretary of the Navy following the departure of John Phelan, bringing additional public attention to his family, including April.
Media coverage surrounding Hung Cao’s family has highlighted April’s identity as his wife, writer and mother of their five children. Her role in raising their children and homeschooling them has also become part of the family’s public story.
April’s own writing career is another reason people search for her. Her involvement in Call Me an American, contributions to Christian family publications and writing about military-family life have established her as more than simply the spouse of a public figure.
April Lakata Cao Personal Life
April Lakata Cao is married to Hung Cao, a retired U.S. Navy captain. The couple have been married for many years and have built their family around military service, faith and homeschooling. Their relationship has continued through the relocations and deployments associated with Hung’s military career.
April and Hung Cao have five children. Public descriptions of the family identify their children as including Grace, Gabriel, Claire, Evelyn and Liam. Their family has also expanded into the next generation, with the Caos becoming grandparents in 2024.
Family life is a central part of April’s public identity. Her writing frequently reflects on motherhood, marriage, raising children and maintaining faith during difficult periods, while her homeschooling role became especially important during the family’s many moves.
April Lakata Cao Age, Religion, Nationality, Height and Physical Appearance
April Lakata Cao was born in 1977 and is 49 years old in 2026. Some secondary sources give March as her birth month, but a precise birth date has not been reliably established in the strongest publicly available sources. Therefore, her exact birthday should not be treated as confirmed.
Cao is American and was born and raised in Northern Virginia. She is openly associated with Christianity through her own writing, which frequently discusses God, Jesus, prayer and Christian faith. Her publisher biography likewise describes her work as being devoted to encouraging families in faith.
Her exact height and detailed physical measurements have not been reliably documented by authoritative sources. Public photographs show her as a middle-aged American woman with light-colored hair, but specific physical measurements should not be presented as confirmed facts.
April Lakata Cao Social Media Presence
April Lakata Cao has maintained an online presence connected to her writing and family-focused work. Her public Instagram account is associated with the handle @aprillakata, where she identifies herself as a writer, mother and military wife.
She has also been associated with the name A Well Done Life, a platform through which she has shared encouragement and reflections about faith, motherhood and family life. Her contributor biographies have previously directed readers toward her daily encouragement work.
Her social media presence reflects the same themes that dominate her professional writing: Christianity, motherhood, family life and the experiences of being married to a military servicemember.
April Lakata Cao Net Worth
April Lakata Cao’s exact net worth is not publicly known. There is no reliable financial disclosure establishing her personal wealth, and online estimates should therefore be treated cautiously.
Her income has likely come from a combination of writing, publishing, contributing work and other professional activities associated with her career. However, the available public information does not provide enough evidence to calculate a precise annual income or personal fortune.
A reasonable public-profile estimate would place April Lakata Cao’s personal net worth in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but this is only an estimate and should not be treated as an officially confirmed figure. Her family’s overall financial position may be substantially different from her individual net worth because of her husband’s military and government career.
April Lakata Cao Legacy
April Lakata Cao’s legacy is closely connected to her work as a writer and advocate for families. Rather than building her public identity around celebrity, she has used personal experiences involving motherhood, military life, faith and family to encourage other people facing similar circumstances.
Her contribution to Faith Deployed…Again and her work with family-oriented publications established her as a recognizable voice among Christian and military-family audiences. Her writing has repeatedly addressed the emotional realities of marriage, parenting and maintaining faith through difficult seasons.
Her collaboration with Hung Cao on Call Me an American adds another dimension to her legacy. Through the book, April helped document her husband’s refugee-to-patriot story while also presenting the perspective of the family that supported him throughout his military career.
Conclusion
April Lakata Cao is an American writer, author, homeschooling mother and military wife whose life and career have centered on faith, family and the experiences of military households. While much of the recent attention surrounding her has come from her husband Hung Cao’s public career, April has developed her own identity through writing, publishing, family advocacy and her contribution to Call Me an American. Her work continues to reflect the personal experiences that shaped her as a mother, wife and writer.
Frequently Asked Questions About April Lakata Cao
Who is April Lakata Cao?
April Lakata Cao is an American writer, author, homeschooling mother and military wife. She is also the wife of retired Navy Captain and acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao.
How old is April Lakata Cao?
April Lakata Cao was born in 1977 and is 49 years old in 2026.
Who is April Lakata Cao’s husband?
April Lakata Cao’s husband is Hung Cao, a retired U.S. Navy captain who became acting Secretary of the Navy in 2026.
How many children does April Lakata Cao have?
April Lakata Cao and Hung Cao have five children.
What does April Lakata Cao do?
April Lakata Cao is a writer and author whose work focuses heavily on faith, motherhood, marriage, parenting and military-family life.
What book did April Lakata Cao write?
She co-authored Call Me an American: Refugee to Patriot: Lessons Learned for a Strong America with her husband, Hung Cao.
Is April Lakata Cao a Christian?
Yes. Christianity is a prominent part of April Lakata Cao’s public writing and her work encouraging families in faith.
Where was April Lakata Cao born?
April Lakata Cao was born and raised in Northern Virginia, United States.
What is April Lakata Cao’s net worth?
Her exact net worth is not publicly known. Available estimates are speculative, so no precise figure can be confirmed.
Why is April Lakata Cao famous?
April Lakata Cao is known for her writing about faith and family, her work as a homeschooling mother and military wife, her contribution to Faith Deployed…Again, and her co-authorship of Call Me an American. She also gained renewed attention in 2026 because of her husband Hung Cao’s role as acting Secretary of the Navy.