Dwyane Wade’s Ex-Wife Going AWOL With Zaire and Zaya in 2010 Triggered Long-Fought Custody Trial

Dwyane Wade’s journey to exemplary fatherhood was filled with challenges. He reflected on the lengthy custody battle in his memoir, A Father First. The conflict began during his divorce settlement with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. When ‘The Flash’ filed for divorce in May 2008, he wanted to ensure that his children maintained a healthy relationship with both their parents. The 42-year-old consequently petitioned for joint custody.

Siohvaughn didn’t share this perspective at all. She sued for sole custody, which led to the longest custody trial in the history of the Cook County family court. Eventually, she was given full custody of the children while Wade was granted scheduled visitation in Chicago twice a month.

Although Wade had initially accepted this outcome, it soon became apparent that his ex-wife had no intention of following the court’s orders. She began making excuses to deny him visitation rights. Her lawyers also intervened to keep him away from his children.

The situation deteriorated over time. Wade found himself filing motions to have phone calls with his children. His visitation requests were met with increasing excuses. It reached a point where Siohvaughn even refused to explain their absence from scheduled visits.

Wade persisted despite these hurdles. But what followed, deeply offended him. In 2010, his ex-wife went missing with their children, Zaire and Zaya. This situation prompted him to initiate a lengthy custody battle.

“The breaking point came in early 2010 when we couldn’t even locate my kids and their mother, the most frightening moment of my life. That was the turning point for me when I decided that I had to seek full custody. If this had to be a fight, then by God, I had to fight for my sons.”

This triggered yet another contentious legal battle. In 2011, the court validated Wade’s allegations against Siohvaughn’s attempts to alienate him from his children. As a result, he was awarded full custody, while she was granted visitation rights on alternate weekends and special occasions throughout the year. This win filled Wade with pride. He told the Associated Press,

“My life changed in a huge way. Mentally, I’ve been preparing for it for over a year now. To me, it’s bigger than that. For me, it shows a lot of people that you need to fight to be in your kids’ lives sometimes. You fight until you can’t fight any more. That’s all I was trying to be, a father in his kids’ lives.”

Since then, D-Wade has remained a strong presence in his children’s lives. He played a crucial role in Zaire’s development as a basketball player. Additionally, he was the first to support Zaya when she came out as transgender in 2020. These actions have made the NBA Hall of Famer a model father figure.