Ex-NBA star Dwyane Wade’s daughter Zaya, 15, finalizes legal transition and name change
The daughter of former NBA star Dwyane Wade has finalized her legal transition after a Los Angeles judge granted her petition to legally change her name and update her gender marker on identification documents.
The 15-year-old, who came out as trans at the age of 12, has been using the name Zaya since 2020.
Her legal name is now Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade, according to a ruling filed Friday in Los Angeles and reviewed by People.
Dwyane Wade has been a vocal supporter of his young trans daughter ever since she told him and his wife, Hollywood star Gabrielle Union, that she wanted to start living as her true self.
Late last year, Wade’s former wife, Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, filed a petition in a Los Angeles court objecting to an initial petition filed by Wade in August to legally change the teen’s name.
Funches-Wade insinuated that her ex-husband could be “pressuring our child to move forward with the name and gender change in order to capitalize on the financial opportunities that he has received from companies,” according to the petition.
On Nov. 3, Wade took to Instagram to hit back at his ex-wife for what he called “serious and harmful accusations” she made about how he parents Zaya.
In a lengthy post, the three-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat wrote, “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.” He added the accusations had “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 find[s] ways of centering herself and HER needs, without regard to her children,” he wrote.
He added that Funches-Wade hadn’t made “any sacrifice or effort to participate in her children’s lives in over a decade.”
For the past three years, both Wade and Union have been fierce LGBTQ allies and outspoken trans rights advocates, often using their platforms to celebrate their daughter’s courage and to speak out against anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
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