Zaya Wade's boyfriend, age, real name, height, mother (with pictures)
Zaya Wade is an American teenage model and LGBTQ+ activist. To most people, though, she is best known as the daughter of the world-famous former basketball player, Dwayne Wade. Zaya rose to prominence at 12 when she told her parents about her transgender identity. What else is known about Zaya besides her incredibly famous parents?
Source: UGC
Zaya's gender identity and her parents' fame have made her incredibly famous. Here is a quick look at her life's details.
Profile summary
| Birth name | Zion Malachi Airamis Wade |
| Date of birth | May 29, 2007 |
| Age | 15 years (as of 2023) |
| Place of birth | Miami, Florida, USA |
| Current residence | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Zodiac sign | Gemini |
| Nationality | American |
| Gender | Transgender |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Height in feet inches | 5′ 5″ |
| Height in centimetres | 165 |
| Weight in kilograms | 54 |
| Weight in pounds | 114 |
| Body measurements in inches | 34-23-34 |
| Eye colour | Dark brown |
| Father | Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. |
| Mother | Siohvaughn Funches |
| Stepmother | Gabrielle Union |
| Half-sister | Kaavia James Union Wade |
| Brother | Zaire Blessing Dwyane Wade |
| Stepbrother | Xavier Zechariah Wade |
| Hair colour | Black |
| School | Sierra Canyon School |
| @zayawade |
Zaya Wade's biography
Source: Getty Images
How old is Zaya Wade? She was born Zion Malachi Airamis Wade on May 29, 2007. This makes her 15 years old as of 2023. She is the second child of former Miami Heat basketball star Dwyane Wade and his ex-spouse, Siohvaughn Funches.
Following Dwyane and Siohvaughn's divorce, the former NBA player obtained full custody of Zaya and her older brother, Zaire Blessing. Zaya's father was one of the best basketball players of his time. He won three NBA championships, got named to the All-NBA Team eight times, an NBA All-Star 13 times, and was a 3-time All-Defensive Team member. He currently hosts The Cube (a television show that began airing on ITV on August 22 2009).
Zaya's mother, Siohvaughn Funches, began dating Dwayne Wade when the two were still teenagers. They later got married in 2002 and had Zaire and "Zion" (now Zaya) before their eventual divorce in 2007. The court awarded the former NBA star full custody of the children in 2011.
Zaya's stepmother is renowned actress Gabrielle Union, who married Dwyane in 2014. Gabrielle and Wade later had a child named Kaavia James through surrogacy. The entire family lived in a waterfront Miami Beach mansion, which they sold for $22 million in 2021 before moving to Los Angeles.
Is Zaya Dwayne Wade's biological daughter?
Is Zaya Wade adopted? No, she is not. She is Dwayne Wade's biological child. The retired player also adopted his 20-year-old nephew, Dahveon Morris (born September 17 2001), from his older sister, Deanna Morris.
Zaya's gender and name change
Zaya's birth name was Zion, and her assigned gender was male. When she turned eight years old, she told her family that she was gay. At the time, her family was hesitant to share the news with the world, given the negative publicity that quite often comes with such revelations.
At the age of 12, Zaya's understanding of her inner self had deepened, prompting her to express her desire to go by she/her pronouns. She went on to explain to her family that she no longer thought she was gay but instead identified as a young lady. She described herself as 'a straight trans' since she felt an attraction towards boys.
Since Zaya wanted to live in line with her feelings and beliefs, she felt the need to make the information public and changed her name from Zion to Zaya. Her father first used she/her pronouns in 2011 when describing her during a live interview with Ellen DeGeneres.
Speaking about the entire issue at the time, Zaya highlighted the need to be true to oneself. Here is an excerpt of her statement.
Be true to yourself. What's the point of being on this earth if you're going to try and be someone you're not?
Social media presence
Source: Getty Images
Following her gender identity announcement, Zaya became incredibly famous online. This, by extension, earned her a lot of followers on various social media platforms, including Instagram. Her Instagram account currently has more than 600k followers.
Her dad recently stated that he had blocked public comments from appearing on his daughter's Instagram posts. This, he says, was in a bid to restrict the negativity that would otherwise flood the posts.
Who is Zaya Wade's boyfriend?
In early 2022, Zaya posted photos of herself sharing a kiss with her boyfriend. Dwayne Wade's daughter took to Instagram to share the post during Easter celebrations. One of the photos also included her world-famous dad.
The young boy is reportedly known as Huaze Leo, though not much else is known about him.
How tall is Zaya Wade?
Zaya Wade's height is 5 feet 5 inches (about 165 centimetres), and her weight is about 114 pounds (54 kilograms). She has dark brown eyes and black hair. Her body measures 34-23-34 inches at the bust, waist, and hips, respectively.
Did Zaya Wade undergo surgery?
Source: Getty Images
At the end of 2022, Zaya Wade's mother filed legal documents in court seeking to prohibit her daughter from undergoing gender reassignment surgery. In the documents, Funches stated that she felt Dwayne Wade was pressuring their child to undergo surgery since he stood to benefit financially.
She also stated that Zaya was too young to make such a decision on her own and that no such surgery should go on until she was at least 18 years old. Zaya has not undergone any gender-related surgery to date.
Zaya Wade is incredibly famous due to her parents' worldwide fame. At only 15 years old, Zaya has already made some hugely significant decisions about her public life.
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Source: Briefly News
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