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When Gabrielle Union found out her husband Dwyane Wade had kidney cancer, she was struck by a terrifying thought about parenting on her own. In a May 7 feature for Marie Claire’s inaugural "Motherhood" issue, the 52-year-old actress discussed the emotional toll Wade’s diagnosis took on her and their family. Union shared that when she learned he had a cancerous tumor that needed to be removed, her mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario.
“Even though we all know many people survive cancer, the first thing you think about is death,” she explained. “It becomes personal—it feels like our cancer.”
Union admitted that her initial reaction was one of fear and selfishness. “I felt like the choices he was making about how to handle it were hurting me. It felt like, ‘Are you trying to leave me to raise these kids alone?’” she said. “It was a selfish reaction, and it led to problems. But his choice to keep certain things secret also planted seeds of mistrust.”
She clarified that it wasn’t about the relationship ending in a marital sense, but rather the fear of losing him to illness. “It felt like he was slipping away—not emotionally, but physically, in a life-or-death way. By the time the tumor was removed, we were finally seeing eye to eye.”
Wade, 43, revealed in January on The WY Network podcast that he had undergone surgery on December 18, 2023, where 40% of his right kidney was removed.
Earlier in February, Union reflected on how this experience made their ninth year of marriage especially difficult. “It was a very hard year,” she said during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends on February 26. “Facing your own mortality in your early 40s shakes everything—your relationships, your sense of identity, your role in your family.”
She added that understanding the emotional and relational fallout of a cancer diagnosis is something many don’t realize until they live through it. “You don’t always grasp the impact it has on your marriage, your children, your whole family.”
Union and Wade are parents to 6-year-old Kaavia James. Wade also has three children from previous relationships—Zaire, 22, Zaya, 17, and Xavier, 11—and is the legal guardian of his 21-year-old nephew, Dahveon Morris.
“Even though we all know many people survive cancer, the first thing you think about is death,” she explained. “It becomes personal—it feels like our cancer.”
Union admitted that her initial reaction was one of fear and selfishness. “I felt like the choices he was making about how to handle it were hurting me. It felt like, ‘Are you trying to leave me to raise these kids alone?’” she said. “It was a selfish reaction, and it led to problems. But his choice to keep certain things secret also planted seeds of mistrust.”
She clarified that it wasn’t about the relationship ending in a marital sense, but rather the fear of losing him to illness. “It felt like he was slipping away—not emotionally, but physically, in a life-or-death way. By the time the tumor was removed, we were finally seeing eye to eye.”
Wade, 43, revealed in January on The WY Network podcast that he had undergone surgery on December 18, 2023, where 40% of his right kidney was removed.
Earlier in February, Union reflected on how this experience made their ninth year of marriage especially difficult. “It was a very hard year,” she said during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends on February 26. “Facing your own mortality in your early 40s shakes everything—your relationships, your sense of identity, your role in your family.”
She added that understanding the emotional and relational fallout of a cancer diagnosis is something many don’t realize until they live through it. “You don’t always grasp the impact it has on your marriage, your children, your whole family.”
Union and Wade are parents to 6-year-old Kaavia James. Wade also has three children from previous relationships—Zaire, 22, Zaya, 17, and Xavier, 11—and is the legal guardian of his 21-year-old nephew, Dahveon Morris.
