“I felt worthless”: Dwyane Wade’s wife Gabrielle Union breaks silence on how surrogacy affected her self worth amid her fertility struggles

Dwyane Wade, the NBA legend, and his wife, Gabrielle Union, have been together for over a decade and their commitment has inspired billions around the world.While life has thrown a lot of obstacles on their marriage, Gabrielle Union has opened up about how choosing surrogacy made her feel negative things about her own body.A few years ago, in 2021, in an essay for TIME, Dwyane Wade’s wife, Gabrielle Union, opened up about what it was like meeting their surrogate in person.The popular actress wrote, “This was the first time Dwyane had met Natalie and her husband in person, and our hugs were those of people who did not know each other but had survived something as a unit.”Dwyane Wade’s wife, Gabrielle Union, continued, “She was showing me her stomach, turning to the side, cupping the weight of my own maternal ineptitude. This growing bump that everyone thought I wanted to see was now a visual manifestation of my failure.”Gabrielle Union added, “I smiled, wanting to show I—we—were so happy and grateful. But part of me felt more worthless.”Before choosing a surrogate to bring a child into this world, Gabrielle Union went through a lot of pain and heartbreak as she tried to get pregnant.The popular actress went through “8 to 9” miscarriages and was ultimately diagnosed with adenomyosis which prevented her from carrying on a healthy pregnancy.However, this did not stop Gabrielle Union as she tried IVF to carry a full term pregnancy.At the end, when nothing was working out for the high profile couple and Gabrielle Union’s body had gone through a lot of physical pain, Dwyane Wade was the one who suggested the idea of choosing surrogacy to bring their child into the world.While Gabrielle Union did not initially agree with this plan, she realised surrogacy was a safer option since the miscarriages had already scarred her physical and mental health.Though Gabrielle Union went through a lot of emotional turmoil during surrogacy, the couple welcomed a healthy baby girl in 2018, Kaavia Wade.Close to a decade later, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union are living their dream lives with their only daughter as she continue to speak out on her fertility issues and trying to make more women aware of their reproductive health.