Dwyane Wade’s 15-year-old daughter, Zaya, was granted a legal name change and assignment of gender.
On Friday, a Los Angeles county judge signed off on the petition to change the teen’s name to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade.
The ruling, filed in Los Angeles’ Superior Court, will allow Zaya’s sex markers on documents to match her gender identity – female.
I previously reported, Zaya’s mother, Siovaughn Wade-Funches filed an objection to Dwyane’s petition claiming the former NBA star was exploiting their child for financial gain.
Her objection states that Dwyane “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.”
“I have concerns that (Dwyane) may 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.”
Siovaughn was asking a court to make Zaya wait until she is 18 years old (an adult) before making such a major change in relation to her identity.
Dwyane Wade, in turn, took to social media and blasted Siohvaughn as an absent parent who will stop at nothing to drag his name through the mud.
“No one in our house would ever force Zaya or any of our children to do anything against their will, much less force an identity on them. This isn’t a game for my family and definitely not for Zaya.”
He added, “Siohvaughn has decided to pretty much be an absent parent to Zaya ALL ON HER OWN. We get a bad rep for not showing up and being absentee fathers, well that’s not the case here because I’m ten toes down and I’m still going thru the BS! I will not sit on my hands this time and allow her to make a mockery of my dedication to my family. The high road has run out of real estate.”
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Source: People
