Dwyane Wade has stood by his daughter's side amid her transition, and he's not backing down. He has supported Zaya Wade's every decision, even when it came to legally changing her name in the face of opposition from her mom, Dwyane's ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches. In 2022, the 41-year-old former professional basketball player had to address matters on Instagram after his ex-wife filed paperwork trying to stop Zaya's name change from going through, saying that it was all a way for Dwyane to gain profit for himself.
The former Miami Heat player filed paperwork in Los Angeles in 2022 to ask for a legal name change for Zaya. This was two years after she told him she was transgender.
After Siohvaughn's allegations, Dwyane shared his thoughts via a lengthy Instagram post. Through the post, he showed his support for his daughter and even addressed his ex-wife's absence from Zaya's life.
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“Since this must be the new way of parenting, I guess I have to address these allegations here, which is a [expletive] shame,” he started. “… I’ve received a social media post about me forcing our 15 year old child to be someone she’s not and to do something against her will. These are serious and harmful allegations that have hurt our children."
"While none of us are surprised by Siohvaughn’s attempt to fight Zaya’s identity and her unwavering attempt to drag my name through the mud, I’m very disappointed that she continuously finds ways of centering herself and HER needs, without regard to her children,” he continued. “This report came out while Zaya was in class. This is a kid who has maintained a 4.0 GPA in honors classes while navigating all this unsolicited and harmful attention and debates about her gender and sexuality from those who are committed to not listening to her, much less even knowing her.”
The post when on to explain how his ex-wife made similar attempts over 10 years ago, which ended in Dwyane being awarded sole custody of their two kids. "All I ever wanted was my parenting time uninteruppted, as I knew that it would be a very difficult time for our kids to navigate their new normal."
He went on to address how his ex-wife failed to ever listen to Zaya or really get to understand her. “I’ve given her the opportunity to reach out to Zaya’s teachers, doctors and therapist over the years and even meet her friends, so she could get her own understanding of our child’s needs for her LIFE,” Dwyane stated. “She won’t do it! She has not been to a school, recital, graduation, school dance, play date, practice, parent teacher conference etc and Zaya has given her every opportunity to try to get to know her. She won’t do it.”
He continued to assure people that nobody in their household would ever force Zaya to make such a life-changing decision. "This isn't a game for my family and definitely not for Zaya. This is her life!"
Since that post, Dwyane has continued to openly support his daughter. “A lot of people like to talk about Zaya’s transition, but to me, Zaya hasn't transitioned into anything but a kid and now going into young adulthood,” he said in an interview in 2023. “I’ve watched her go through life. There hasn't been no transition at all. There’s been a transition for the world, but for us, I see the same kid.”
