According to the Miami Heat alum in a new interview on 'Good Morning America', the 12-year-old Zaya has identified herself as a girl since she's only three years old.
- Feb 19, 2020
AceShowbiz - Dwyane Wade officially revealed his child Zaya's transgender identity only a week ago, but he said the 12-year-year kid had known it since she's only 3 years old. "She's known it for nine years, since she was 3 years old," the athlete said on "Good Morning America".
"And along this way, we've asked questions and we've learned. But she's known," the 38-year-old father of four continued in the new interview. "I knew early on that I had to check myself," he added, "That's what I knew. I knew early on that I had to ask myself questions."
He admitted he's a little ignorant before he found out Zaya situation. "I've been a person in a locker room that has been a part of the conversation that has said the wrong phrases and the wrong words myself," the basketballer said. "As I got older and I watched my daughter grow, I had to go and look at myself in the mirror and say, 'Who are you? What are you going to do if your child comes home and says, 'Dad, I'm not a boy … I'm a trans girl.' What are you going to do?' That was my moment of real."
He recalled the kid formerly known as Zion coming up to him and wife Gabrielle Union and starting educating them, " 'Hey, I don't think I'm gay,' and she went down the list and said, 'This is how I identify myself, this is my gender identity. I identify myself as a young lady. I think I'm a straight trans [girl] because I like boys.' "
Zaya's story will be featured in Dwyane's ESPN documentary "D. Wade: Life Unexpected" due Sunday, February 23. "I struggled on how much I wanted to talk about in the doc," he said. "I actually didn't talk about it a lot. But, I knew if I put it in the doc at all, it would be a big conversation. "
"Yes, we understand that our daughter's 12 years old. We struggled with what people would say about a 12-year-old making a decision about her life, but we also know our child."
"So we sit back and we say. 'You know what?' As parents, it's our job to sit back and figure out and find the information that we can. And we've sat down together as a family. We've reached out to as many people as we can. We've researched as many things as we can to try to help not only our family but other people in this journey and along the way."
Zaya is Dwyane Wade's second child with former wife Siohvaughn Funches. The athlete has full custody of the two children. Zaya's brother Zaire and stepmother Gabrielle have both offered support for her ever since her coming out, but her biological mother stayed silent.
