Dwyane Wade Says Gaining Full Custody Was ‘Tough' But 'Beneficial' For His Kids
Taking a look at the Wade family through the lens of social media one might think everything is perfect. An NBA superstar dad, uber talented and famous actress mom, and four kids.
Of course that would be foolish.
In a recent episode of Showtime’s All the Smoke podcast Wade opened up about the challenges he faced in going from a “weekend parent” to gaining full custody of his children.
“When I decided to go for custody, I really didn’t have a lot of examples” Wade said. “I really didn’t have too many people I could reach out to to say, ‘Bro, how’s the process?’ Or give me confidence that I even can stand a chance. It was uncharted waters, but it was all about just being in my kids’ lives.”
Wade and his ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches, went through an ugly prolonged divorce which began back in 2007 when Wade originally filed to dissolve the marriage.
Co-parenting was initially the plan, but their relationship deteriorated to the point where Wade believed having sole custody was the best option.
“And unfortunately, that was the way I had to do it,” Wade said. “You know, because of how [my] relationship [with their mother] went.”
Funches has a different story of how the marriage went and ultimately ended, citing physical and emotional abuse.
Wade and the idea of parenting and fatherhood has been a huge topic of conversation as his 12-year-old Zion experiences gender identity, sexuality, and self-realization.
“I watched my son, from day one, become into who she now eventually come into,” Wade said.
Recalling wanting custody of his children Wade said:
“At first, it was like ‘I want custody,’ and I just had this emotional moment, and then I snapped back into [the fact] that I had so much to teach them and I had so much responsibility coming my way,” he said.
The podcast is illuminating and touches on a lot of issues within society and families and his worth the listen.
The full episode is below.
