Dwayne Wade is fighting back against his ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches’ attempts to block their daughter, Zaya, from legally changing her name. Most recently, Wade clapped back with his own court filing on November 28, 2022.
Wade and Funches divorced in 2010, and Wade was awarded custody of their children, Zaya and Zaire. Zaya came out as transgender in 2020, when she began going by the name of Zaya.
Wade has supported his daughter and recently filed to have her name legally changed to Zaya. However, Funches filed a petition in early November to block the name change.
Wade submitted a new court filing to respond to Funches’ blockage attempt. In the filing, he doubled down on his support of Zaya and the necessity of the name change.
The filing stated, “This petition is about allowing Zaya to take on the milestones of being a young adult with confidence and joy.”
It explained the change would increase the ease with which Zaya went through life as it would clear up confusion on college applications or applying for a driver’s license.
The filing concluded by reiterating that Zaya’s life shouldn’t have to be put on hold just because Funches cannot accept her daughter’s identity.
Siohvaughn Funches attempted to block Dwayne Wade’s daughter’s name change
Funches filed her motion to block Zaya’s name change on November 2. Funches could attempt to block her daughter’s name change because Zaya is only 15, meaning she needs parental consent to change her name.
Funches accused Wade of pressuring their daughter to change her identity for his profit in her filing.
Her filing stated, “[Wade] is positioned to profit from the minor child’s name and gender change with various companies through contacts and marketing opportunities including but not limited to deals with Disney.”
Funches also accused Wade of violating the terms of their custody agreement. According to her, he infringed on a custody order that stipulated Wade had to consult with Funches before making a major decision regarding their children’s upbringing.
Given that Wade is a former professional basketball player and Zaya’s journey has been heavily reported, Funches claimed that Wade pressured her to decide on her name change too quickly.
Funches stated that she wants Zaya to wait until 18 to change her name. Once she is 18, she won’t need her parents to consent to her name change.
Funches also claimed that Wade had explicitly discussed with her the money that could be made through Zaya’s name change. She claimed that Wade told her he intended to make Zaya famous and that multiple companies, including Disney, were interested in endorsing her.
Wade has responded to Funches before
This most recent court filing isn’t the only time that Wade has responded to Funches’ claims. A day after Funches filed to block Zaya’s name change, Wade released a long statement.
In the statement, Wade slammed her for her “harmful” allegations against him and his family and for being an absent parent. However, he also reiterated that he has been through this before with her after a long legal journey through “13 lawyers,” which resulted in him being awarded full custody of his kids in 2011.
He denied that anyone in his family would try to make Zaya something she is not and that they merely listened to and supported Zaya.
He stated, “This isn’t a game for my family and definitely not for Zaya. This is her life!”
Wade also went on to claim that Funches refused to get to know Zaya or meet her teachers or friends to try to attempt to understand her journey at all. Instead, she was allegedly absent from Zaya’s life of her choosing despite having the opportunity to get to know her better.
He concluded by indicating that he was already consulting with his lawyer and would unravel the “book of lies” that Funches has sold to her lawyers.
The court has not yet decided to grant or deny Zaya’s petition for her name change.