Dwyane Wade Proclaims 'Unconditional Love' For Daughter Zaya On Instagram

The retired NBA star continues to shine a light on his 13-year-old daughter, whom he introduced as transgender earlier this year.
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Dwyane Wade is closing out 2020 by reiterating his devotion to being a thoughtful and inclusive dad.

The NBA icon on Sunday declared his “unconditional love” for his daughter Zaya alongside a pair of recent photos on Instagram. In February, Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, introduced Zaya, now 13, to the world as transgender.

“Unconditional love, simply put, is love without strings attached,” Wade wrote on Instagram. “It’s love you offer freely. You don’t base it on what someone does for you in return. You simply love them and want nothing more than their happiness.”

In March, Zaya walked the red carpet alongside Wade and Union at the 2020 Truth Awards in Los Angeles, just weeks after Wade went public about his daughter’s gender identity in “D. Wade: Life Unexpected,” an ESPN documentary.

The retired Miami Heat player has spoken at length about his family and his personal journey as the parent of a transgender child.

“We’re not the only family that’s had to deal with gender expression, gender identity, sexuality, with their child,” he told “Entertainment Tonight” in February. “We understand the position we’ve been put in, especially in our community, and even though it’s not always a popular thing to speak out on issues that people are uncomfortable with or not as educated on, but this is the platform that God gave me and my family. So, we use it.”

Union, who is Zaya’s stepmother, offered similar sentiments while being profiled for Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 list.

“Freedom exists in so many different forms,” she told the magazine. “It’s beautiful to watch truly free children... [Zaya] has the freedom to be exactly who she is, who she was born to be, to be her most authentic self. She doesn’t ask permission to exist. That is wildly inspiring.”

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