Dwyane Wade Clarifies What 50/50 Means For His Wife Gabrielle Union And Their Finances

NBA star Dwyane Wade and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, have been in the headline news for a variety of reasons over the last few years, especially when it comes to their somewhat unconventional family life. The couple first crossed paths in 2007 at a Super Bowl event, sparking a friendship that evolved over time. However, it wasn't until 2009 that their relationship took a romantic turn. Despite the challenges they faced, including a brief breakup in 2013, Union and Wade's romance ultimately led to marriage. The couple tied the knot in a lavish ceremony on August 30, 2014, solidifying their commitment in the presence of close friends and family.

Today, Union and Wade share a family. In 2018, they welcomed their daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade, to the world via surrogacy following Union's battle with infertility. Kaavia's vibrant personality has quickly made her a social media sensation, endearingly known as Shady Baby for her expressive and adorable photos. Besides Kaavia, Wade has three other children from previous relationships. Zaire Blessing Dwyane Wade and Zaya Wade are his children with his first wife, Siohvaughn Funches, to whom he was married from 2002 to 2010. Wade also has a son, Xavier Zechariah Wade, from a brief relationship with Aja Metoyer during his split with Union in 2013. Zaya is a teenage boy who recently declared himself to be transgender, with the public support of Wade and Union. His biological mother attempted to block Wade's legal efforts to change their son's gender and name in the court, but she ultimately lost the battle.

In addition to his biological children, Wade also raises his nephew, Dahveon Morris. This makes a total of five children under the Union-Wade roof. Wade and Union have spoken many times before about how they share things in their life 50/50. Union has even said that she felt entitled to cheat on her previous husband because she was the one who was paying all the bills, and that is partly what encouraged her and Wade to split everything down the middle. But the two have received backlash in the past about this decision to go 50/50, so in a recent interview Wade decided to explain what this really means.

Dwyane Wade Clarifies What 50/50 Means for His Wife Gabrielle Union and Their Finances

In an interview with Shannon Sharpe for FOX Sports, Wade offered some clarity on how they split things in his household. First, he defined what people think it means: "50/50 means everything in life—you got your half, I got mine," he said. "That's not how it works." He said it doesn't mean that every time he's going out for a sandwich or groceries that he's asking Union to dish out half of whatever the cost will be.

He explained that in most things in his life, he takes care of it 100%, such as taking care of his parents, his children from a previous marriage, and other family members that need his support. She also takes care of her own family 100%. But when they come together, that's when they split things 50/50.

"We decided together—because I think I said one time about it being my house that I paid for in Miami," Wade recalled. And Union didn't like the sound of that. She wanted their home to be theirs, not something that Wade just paid for by himself. So when they moved to LA, they went 50/50 on a house.

When it comes to anything with their biological daughter Kaavia, they split everything down the middle. If they're planning a vacation or a trip for themselves and the family, they split it down the middle.

"My wife is a working woman," he said. "She's a boss and an independent woman in her own life." He says she is still a working actress who often goes away for her own projects, and he likes that his wife is able to do that.

"We decided that certain pieces of our life that we would share in it," he said. He added that he isn't able to control anything that Union does, joking that if he could, they would stay out of headline news. "My wife had this microphone way before I did," he laughed.

"I do alright for myself, but in certain moments we want to do better together, we do better together," he said.

He also said that they signed a prenup because everything that he earned before they met is his, and vice versa for her. "I think everyone should have a prenup," Sharpe agreed.

But many people still think it's odd that Wade and Union are so divisive with finances. Many of the comments on her recent Instagram posts are fans calling them "roommates" since they split everything down the middle. Other critics are quick to point out that when the natural relationship between femininity and masculinity is thrown off, you have to split things 50/50 because there is no other way to balance things out. It's also important to note that when you've been married multiple times and had children with multiple other partners, it makes it incredibly difficult to come together with a new husband or wife and truly combine your life and your finances. That's because there are a lot of factors that would be considered unfair for the new spouse to pay for, such as other children that aren't biologically theirs.

Regardless of how many children have come from previous relationships, it does seem odd that Union and Wade still haven't brought their lives and their finances together completely. After all, a marriage is a union. It feels like keeping things so separate—separate bank accounts, separate finances, separate bills, etc.—only keeps the door open for them to walk away from the marriage one day. In the interview, Wade made an off-handed comment about what might happen one day if Union chooses to move on from him. That pretty much sums up why their finances are the way that they are. They always have it in the back of their mind that they could walk away from the marriage at any point, if one of them isn't happy or fulfilled. And that mindset is in direct opposition to the vows of marriage, which promise to stick with that person no matter what, for the rest of their life.

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