Over the summer, Dwyane Wade filed papers to legally change his transgender daughter's name and assigned gender, after many years of he and current wife, actress Gabrielle Union, speaking out about their support for 15-year-old Zaya's gender identity (Union is her stepmother). Now, his ex-wife is trying to stop those changes from happening, submitting her own papers this week to block them until Zaya can "make this monumental decision for themselves" when she's 18, reports the Washington Post, citing Siohvaughn Funches-Wade's filing Tuesday in a Los Angeles County court.
In her filing, Funches-Wade also accuses her ex of being "positioned to profit" from Zaya's situation, via "contacts and marketing opportunities" with such companies as Disney, and claims he "may be pressuring" Zaya on her gender identity for financial reasons, per People. The 40-year-old former NBA star pushed back with a blistering message Thursday on Instagram about Funches-Wade, whom he was married to from 2002 to 2010. "No one in our house would ever force Zaya or any of our children to do anything against their will, much less force an identity on them," Wade wrote in his post, calling his ex's allegations "serious and harmful."
He notes that he's had battles with Funches-Wade over Zaya and their son, 20-year-old Zaire Wade, for at least a decade, accusing her of being an absent mother who hasn't been involved in her children's lives and therefore couldn't possibly know what Zaya wants or needs. "This isn't a game for my family and definitely not for Zaya," he writes. "This is her life!" Zaire also had a message for Zaya amid the family drama, though he kept it short and sweet. "I love you Zaya," he wrote to his little sister in a Thursday Instagram story, complete with a heart emoji, per Us. (More Dwyane Wade stories.)
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