Gabrielle Union Recalls Husband Dwyane Wade Having a Baby with Another Woman

Gabrielle Union opens up about a tumultuous time in her relationship with now-husband Dwyane Wade.

In an excerpt from her new book “You Got Anything Stronger?” that was also shared by Time, the “Bring It On” star publicly discusses her and the NBA star’s journey to welcoming daughter Kaavia James Union-Wade, now 2, via surrogate in 2018.

The actress also discussed how she felt in in 2013 when Wade fathered a baby, son Xavier Zechariah Wade, now 7, with “Basketball Wives” star Aja Metoyer when she and Wade were broken up.

Wade would go on to propose to Union later that year, and the two tied the knot in August 2014.

“It should go without saying that we were not in a good place at the time that child was conceived,” Union recalled.

When Wade revealed to Union that Metoyer was expecting, she explained that they “were in a much better place” in their relationship, but that the news was still shocking to hear.

“To say I was devastated is to pick a word on a low shelf for convenience,” she said, adding, “There are people — strangers I will never meet — who have been upset that I have not previously talked about that trauma. I have not had words, and even after untold amounts of therapy I am not sure I have them now.”

Union, who has been open about her adenomyosis diagnosis, explained that she and Wade were trying to have a baby of their own at the time.

Though she considered taking the drug Lupron to help her conceive, Wade told her, “You’ve done enough.”

“I didn’t receive this as concern at the time,” she wrote. “It sounded like an acknowledgment of failure. Because at that point I would have sold my soul to get out of the endless cycle of loss. What was the going rate for souls? What was mine worth, anyway? The experience of Dwyane having a baby so easily — while I was unable to — left my soul not just broken into pieces, but shattered into fine dust scattering in the wind.”

She continued, “Clearly, my feelings weren’t originating from a healthy place. So much of what made the decision so difficult was that if I didn’t submit to a surrogacy, then I was convinced I needed to let Dwyane go. Even if he didn’t want to, I had to let him find someone who could give him what he wanted.”

When Union and Wade did decide to use a surrogate, Union admits that she had fears about the process. However, many of those anxieties went away after meeting her gestational carrier, who was a fan of Union’s work.

Despite this, it was still a difficult scene for Union to witness.

“This growing bump that everyone thought I wanted to see was now a visual manifestation of my failure,” she wrote. “I smiled, wanting to show I — we — were so happy and grateful. But part of me felt more worthless.”

When she saw her daughter in an ultrasound, however, Union couldn’t help but get emotional.

“It was suddenly incredibly real,” she explained. “Dwyane took my hand, and there was so much happiness on his face, I lost it. My cry was a choke stopped up in my throat, tears streaming down.”

Kaavia was born prematurely following 38 hours of labor. Doctors performed an emergency C-section after discovering that the umbilical cord was tied around the baby’s ankle.