Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade’s daughter Kaavia, often referred to as “shady baby” online, is no longer a baby. On Nov. 7, Union and Wade celebrated their daughter’s sixth birthday. Posting a carousel of photos and videos, the parents penned a sweet birthday message to Kaavia on Instagram.
“Miss Kaavia James Union Wade is 6 today!” They wrote in a joint post. “You are a miracle who has blessed everyone with your kindness, compassion, elite humor, intelligence and your loving soul.”
“You are a gift to your family, blood and chosen, and so many people across the world,” they added. “We love you beyond measure and we celebrate your cute little self daily!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUEEN KAAVIA!!!”
In 2018, the actress and NBA star welcomed Kaavia via surrogate, which Union admits was a difficult decision. In her book “You Got Something Stronger?,” Union reflected on her fertility journey. After being diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition that impacts the lining of the uterus, and experiencing several miscarriages, the star recalls her doctor advising her toward surrogacy, which she admits she was not ready for.
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“I was not ready to do that. I wanted the experience of being pregnant. To watch my body expand and shift to accommodate this miracle inside me. I also wanted the experience of being publicly pregnant,” she said in a reflective personal essay published in Time magazine. “…Why was I so willing to risk myself for a chance [to have a baby]? If there was another way for me to bring my baby into the world, and have my health, why was it so hard for me to make peace with that?”
Despite her fertility struggles, Union, who is now 52, says she does not regret becoming a mother at 46.
“I became a mom at the right time, because I was healed,” she previously shared on Instagram. “And I had committed to healing eternally, so I didn’t pass all that generational trauma onto Kaav… had I been a day younger, even, certainly 10, 15, 20 years before, I would have passed along way too many traumatic things to my child.”
Kaavia is the youngest member of Union and Wade’s blended family. The couple is also parents to Wade’s son Zaire and daughter Zaya, whom he shares with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches and his son Xavier, who he shares with Aja Metoyer. Wade is also the legal guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris.
As a baby, Kaavia’s personality shined through her parents’ social media posts, which captured their daughter’s hilariously serious faces. From her now trademark side-eye to her adorable smile, Kaavia quickly became known on social media as the beloved “shady baby,” which Union loves.
“I love that she’s shady baby, and shady baby is just somebody who is not going to dance for you when you say now. She’s got her own mind at four and a half months,” the actress told People magazine in 2019. “I hope she keeps that same energy where when she feels like smiling, she smiles, and when she doesn’t, she doesn’t [smile]. Either you catch the mood, or you don’t, but she’s going to stay true to herself.”
