Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade talk backlash over photo of new baby
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade sat down with Oprah Winfrey to dish about their new baby girl and Union’s rocky road to motherhood, PEOPLE reports.
Set to air Dec. 8 on OWN, the special titled Oprah at Home with Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade & Their New Baby, is the couple’s most raw interview yet, emotionally charged with reactions to the announcement of their long-awaited baby that was met with much criticism online.
“You’re finally a mother at 46,” Oprah said as Union blossomed into a smile, and responded, “Yeah.”
—Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade welcome new baby!—
The couple’s daughter Kaavia James was born through a surrogate on Nov. 7 after many failed attempts for Union to conceive on her own. After Union happily posted a photo holding her new baby as she was draped in a hospital gown, people slammed her for lying in a hospital bed with baby and husband.
“Everyone started talking about why she acting like she just had a baby,” Wade shares.
“You want to explain that?” Oprah asked Union. Clearly, it hurt the actress deeply.
This is the couple’s first child together. Wade is a father to three boys from previous relationships. He also is the guardian of his 17-year-old nephew.
Union opened up previously about her struggles to get pregnant and her “eight or nine” miscarriages in her book, We’re Going to Need More Wine.
“For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant — I’ve either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle or coming out of an IVF cycle,” she wrote.
Studies show that a 40-year-old woman treated for infertility only has a 25 percent chance of getting pregnant using her own eggs. By age 43 that number dropped to 10 percent, and by 44 it had gone down to just to 1.6 percent. But fans have always been supportive when the star has spoken about her fertility journey, and she explained that her baby was lovingly carried by a surrogate.
—Magic Johnson’s daughter escapes unharmed from home invasion—
Last month, Wade posted a photo of the baby teasing about the meetup.
“We wanna thank @oprah for coming into our home to discuss our new bundle of joy!” the NBA player, 36, captioned a photo of the four.
“My baby @kaaviajames wore @ackeetreeclothing for her first meeting with Ms.Oprah!”
Union glowed holding her “miracle baby” and wrote on Instagram about the meetup.
“From the Bottle to the Bassinet … No New Friends. Crew. Tight. ???,” the actress wrote. “So excited to share what we have been working on with @oprah & @kaaviajames“
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade broke the internet in November with the surprise announcement that they were the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl.
And now fans know why the power couple gave their new bundle of joy her special name.
Union took to Instagram over the weekend to explain the reasoning behind naming her baby girl, Kaavia James Union Wade. And while we figured out that the names “Union” and “Wade” were clearly an homage to the happy parents, we were left wondering if “James” was perhaps a shout out to Wade’s bestie LeBron James, but it’s not.
Union just wanted to give a nod to her grandfather and uncle, PEOPLE reports.
“We wanted to include my family in her name so that ‘James’ is from my uncle James Francis Glass who is also my grandfather,” she wrote, adding that “Union is her middle name.”
Oprah at Home with Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade & Their New Baby will air on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
