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It’s rare that father’s take paternity leave, so when Dwyane Wade alerted the NBA of his plans, although we could hardly believe it, we loved the idea!
“They expect my wife to take off, why not expect me to take off as well? We’re parents. We’re doing this together. It was a no-brainer.”
The 36-year-old, who played his last game against best friend and former teammate LeBron James on Monday night (he announced his retirement earlier this year), told Oprah in their OWN special, that it was important for he and wife Gabrielle Union to have that bonding time with their now one-month-old daughter.
“Our journey was totally different. I wasn’t there to say, ‘hey baby, daddy’s here’ or to have conversations so she can hear me, so we can sing to her, so we can read to her. So this connection that we both needed, it had to happen right away.”
The couple welcomed Kaavia James Union Wade on November 7 via surrogate and shared the news on Instagram the following day.
Almost immediately the 46-year-old actress was attacked online for “acting as if she had the baby” when she shared a photo of the three in a hospital bed and her in a gown. Both she and Dwyane responded to the criticism, telling Oprah, “…it’s this idea that the baby was born and we snatched the baby and ran off and tried to pretend like I had some secret pregnancy.” Watch below.
The Internet can truly be a demented place. We’re just happy the couple finally have their miracle baby.
TELL US: Do you think more fathers should follow suit and take paternity leave?
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