Gabrielle Union Shares the Scary Parenting Thought She Had While Wrestling with Dwyane Wade’s Cancer Diagnosis

• Gabrielle Union speaks out about her husband Dwyane Wade’s cancer diagnosis and shares the scary parenting thought she had
• Wade previously shared that he had a cancerous tumor removed from his kidney in December 2023
• The two are parents to 6-year-old daughter Kaavia

When Gabrielle Union learned that her husband Dwyane Wade had kidney cancer, she had a scary parenting thought.

In an interview published on Wednesday, May 7, the Bring It On alum, 52, spoke with Marie Clare for their first-ever “Motherhood” issue and shared that when she found out Wade had to have a cancerous tumor removed from his kidney, her thoughts wandered to what would happen if the worst occurred.

“It was hard to navigate publicly the things that were happening privately,” Union said. “Even though we all know plenty of survivors, immediately you go to death, immediately we all internalize his cancer. It’s our cancer.”

“I’ll speak for myself when I say that the decisions that he was making hurt me about his cancer. It felt like, ‘Oh, you’re trying to kill me. And I’m going to be alone raising these kids,’ ” she said.

“It’s a very selfish response that I had, and it caused all kinds of problems, but [so did] his need for secrecy about his cancer decisions. It just starts sowing the seeds of distrust.”

Union clarified her perspective, adding, “It just felt like he was trying to leave us—not in a marital sense, but a life and death sense. By the time he got it removed, I felt like we were more on the same page.”

The Hall of Fame basketball star, 43, revealed in a January episode of The WY Network podcast that he had 40% of his right kidney removed after undergoing surgery on Dec. 18, 2023.

Back in February, Union shared that her husband’s cancer diagnosis contributed to a “very hard” year in their marriage, sharing that “being faced with your own mortality” in your early 40s takes a “toll” on your relationships. 

“It was year nine of our marriage and … year nine was very hard,” Union, who married Wade in 2014, said during an appearance Feb. 26 on Today with Jenna & Friends. 

“When you mention year nine being hard, he hadn’t revealed his cancer diagnosis and his own cancer journey, so now we can put it in more context,” Union says. “Obviously him getting that diagnosis was traumatic for him: Being faced with your own mortality in your early 40s, and you’re like, ‘Am I going to be here to see my family? Who am I without this big life, and without this healthy body?’ “

She continued: “But you also don’t understand the journey and the toll that it takes on your marriage, on your family, on your kids.”

Wade and Union share a daughter, Kaavia James, 6. The former professional athlete also shares two children with Siohvaughn Funches: Zaire, 22, and Zaya, 17, as well as a son, Xavier, 11, with Aja Metoyer. Wade is also the legal guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris, 21.