Dwyane Wade says telling Gabrielle Union that he fathered a child during their breakup was the 'hardest thing I’ve ever had to do'
In his upcoming ESPN documentary D. Wade: Life Unexpected, Dwyane Wade reportedly opens up about telling Gabrielle Union that he fathered a child with another woman while the couple was broken up in 2013.
"I had a child with someone else and I had to tell her. Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is man up and tell Gabrielle Union that I’ve had a child with somebody else," the 38-year-old says in the documentary, as reported by Entertainment Tonight. "I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t eating."
According to People, Wade fathered a child named Xavier, now 6. Additionally, Wade is father to Zaire, 18, and Zaya, 12, and the guardian of his nephew, Dahveon, 18. After a series of miscarriages, Union, 47, and Wade, who wed in 2014, welcomed daughter Kaavia born via surrogate in 2018.
"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 says in the documentary, per Entertainment Tonight. "Me and Gab just went through something that you never want to go through and we still came out of it."
Back in 2013, Wade announced the “blessing” during a press conference before he took the basketball court with the Miami Heat. "I had a time, a part in our break, in our pain and our hurt, a blessing came out of it in my life, having a son that was born healthy," he said on December 30th of that year, according to ABC News. "So I'm moving on."
Days before the press conference, Wade and Union got engaged.
Becoming a dad, said Wade, was part of why he announced his retirement in September 2018. Now, he serves as an NBA analyst for TNT.
Wade recently shared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that Zaya changed pronouns to "she" and "her."
“First of all, me and my wife Gabrielle Union, we are proud — when I say proud, we are proud parents — of a child in the LGBTQ+ community,” Dwyane told DeGeneres on February 11. “And we’re proud allies as well. And we take our roles and our responsibility as parents very seriously.”
He added, "So, when Zaya, our 12-year-old, came home — first, Zion… I don't know if everyone knows, originally named Zion, Zion, born as a boy — came home and said, 'Hey, so I want to talk to you guys. I think going forward, I'm ready to live my truth. And I want to be referenced as 'she' and 'her.' I'd love for you guys to call me Zaya.'"
D. Wade: Life Unexpected will debut on Sunday, February 23, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Related: Dwayne Wade’s Child Shares Message About Transgender Journey
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter.
