Dwyane Wade‘s ex-wife has filed a petition objecting to legally changing the name and gender of their daughter Zaya, alleging that the former NBA star is “positioned to profit” from the change and expressing concerns that he “may be pressuring” Zaya for financial gain.
The former athlete, 40, first spoke about his and ex-wife Siovaughn Funches-Wade’s 15-year-old daughter coming out as transgender on a 2020 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. At the time, Wade noted that his child had decided to go by the name of Zaya, and be referred to by she/her pronouns.
According to documents obtained by PEOPLE, Funches-Wade’s petition was filed Tuesday in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles as an objection to an initial petition Wade filed in August to legally change Zaya’s name.
In Funches-Wade’s recent filing, the 41-year-old claims that 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.”
“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,” she alleged.
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She also claimed that she and Wade, who split in 2007, spoke in April 2022 at one of his homes in Atlanta where he “informed me that a lot of money had been already made and that additional money will be made in relation to our child’s name and gender issue,” according to the documents.
“[Wade] told me that he intended to make our child very famous due to the name and gender issue and also informed me that there would be endorsements/contracts associated therewith,” she continued.
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Funches-Wade is asking the court that Zaya make the decision herself when she turns 18, or the “age of majority,” in two and a half years. She also claims that “there will likely be media pressure on the minor child” to make the change.
Representatives for Wade and Funches-Wade did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In 2010, Funches-Wade filed a lawsuit alleging that Wade’s relationship with Union caused her and their sons emotional distress. At the time, Wade called the filing “baseless and meritless,” according to ESPN and the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.
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Since coming out as transgender in 2020, Zaya has received unconditional support from both Wade and her stepmother, Gabrielle Union.
But Zaya has also talked about the struggles she has faced dealing with online criticism and detrimental beauty advice.
“As a trans person, once I came out, there was a lot of hateful comments about how I should grow my hair out long or fit into a certain version of femininity, even though that’s not true at all,” Zaya said back in May, during a joint interview with Union for the Dove Self-Esteem Project. “That kind of advice is just trying to break you, but don’t let it.”
