Being a devoted husband and father is a large part of Dwyane Wade’s legacy. He’s a complete family man who has never shied away from standing up for the people he loves. His marriage to actress Gabrielle Union has been in the spotlight for years, not just because of their fame but because of the way they’ve consistently shown up for each other.
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Whether it’s parenting, voicing his support for things close to his heart, or simply navigating life as a power couple in the public eye, Wade has never missed a step in protecting his family. Despite his attempts to safeguard his family, there have been times when the public scrutiny has been tough to deal with.
One such moment happened back in 2018 when Wade and Union welcomed Kaavia into the world via surrogacy. The backlash, like most public backlashes, was done by uninformed individuals on the internet. It was centered around a picture of Union in a hospital bed, wearing a gown and cradling their newborn daughter.
Wade said, “For me, the most hurtful thing was once we had our baby and everybody started talking about, ‘Why is she in the bed holding the baby? Why she got a gown on? Why is she acting like she just had a baby?’” Their moment of celebration was marked by criticism from people who could never understand what it meant for Union and Wade to welcome a child after suffering several miscarriages.
Wade called those people out during the People interview. He said, “Once again, people are uneducated on the process and why we decided to go skin-to-skin as soon as our baby came out.” The NBA legend is very protective of his family and would stop at nothing in order to keep them safe.
Dwyane Wade moved his family out of Florida due to safety concerns
Since his retirement in 2019, Wade has been focusing on building businesses, making smart investments, and trying out different ventures. However, no matter how high the stakes are, he always prioritizes his family while making decisions.
For the majority of his NBA career, Wade lived in Florida. But a few years after retirement, he had to move out. Wade is a father to a transgender daughter, and the laws and politics of the state were an unsafe environment for his kid.
“It’s unsafe conversation, and it’s unsafe for my daughter, it’s unsafe for the young kids and the youth and adults, the elder in the trans community. And so for us, as much as I love that city, as much as I’m always going to be a part of it, for the safety of my family, that’s what it was,” he explained the reason behind leaving Florida.
Zaya came out as transgender in 2020 and was granted an official name and gender change in February 2023.
