Dwyane Wade has always been a open book to the public as he has been recently displaying by talking about his son Zion becoming transgender and changing his name to ‘Zara.’
The Miami Heat legend also has a son, Xavier, who he fathered with Aja Metoyerin in 2013, but it came about while he was estranged from his wife Gabrielle Union. Wade said telling the Bring It On actress was the ‘hardest thing’ he ever had to do.
Wade and Union reconciled, but not before the former NBA superstar had to break the news about his child.
‘I had a child with someone else and I had to tell her,’ Dwyane says in the upcoming film D. Wade: Life Unexpected. ‘Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is man up and tell Gabrielle Union that I’ve had a child with somebody else. I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t eating.’
He continues, “When you hold something in that you know is going to come out and you have this information and you know it’s gonna f— somebody’s life up, that you care about, that you love, if it don’t hurt you, then you’re not human.”
Wade married Union in August 2014. The couple welcomed daughter Kaavia, 1, via surrogate in 2018.
Both of them have been and will continue to rally around 12-year-old Zaya as he transitions into the next phase of her life.
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“Me and my wife, Gabrielle Union, are proud parents of a child in the LGBTQ+ community,” he said during an appearance on Ellen. “And we are proud allies as well. We take our roles and our responsibility as parents very seriously. So when our child comes home with a question, when a child comes home with an issue, when a child comes home with anything, it’s our job as parents to listen to that, to give them the best information that we can, to give them the best feedback that we can — and that doesn’t change because sexuality is now involved in it.”
Wade’s announcement was accompanied by an Instagram post from Zaya’s older brother, Zaire.
“Man, I remember bugging my mom as a kid telling her I wanted a brother so bad. I was the only child looking for company and someone to look after and take care of. I have been blessed to have my best friend, Zaya with me for 12 years,” Zaire wrote. “We did everything together…we fought, we played, we laughed and we cried. But the one thing we never did was leave each other behind … I’ve told you that I would lay my life down to make sure you are ten toes down and happy on this earth. I don’t care what they think Z, you are my best friend and I love you kid, and if it means anything, just know there’s no love lost on this side.”
