Gabrielle Union Admits She's 'Stressed Out' as She Gets Ready to Send Stepdaughter Zaya Off to College
"It's tough," Union says of preparing for Zaya to leave the nest
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Gabrielle UnionGabrielle Union is getting ready for her stepdaughter Zaya to leave the nest.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight at the N.Y.C. premiere of The Idea of You on Monday, April 29, the actress, 51, reflected on her recent college visits with husband Dwyane Wade, 42, and 16-year-old daughter Zaya.
"I think she is so calm about it 'cause I think she knows exactly where she wants to go, but I think she's humoring us with seeing what our country has to offer," Union told the outlet.
"We're stressed out. We're stressed out about her being away from us...[Parents all have the] same nerves and anxieties about sending your babies away. It's tough."
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Union also revealed that Zaya has a rough idea of what she wants to study when she gets to college.
"She wants to major in astrobiology, so there's only so much help we can offer, to be honest...I was a Sociology major, [so I'm like], 'Girl, you're on your own,' " Union teased.
Union and Wade share daughter Kaavia James 5. She is also stepmom to Wade's three kids Zaire, 21, Zaya, and Xavier, 10, whom he shares with ex-wife Siovaughn Funches. The basketball player is also the legal guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris, 21.
In March, Wade shared photos of his time at the University of Washington with Zaya and Union in a sweet Instagram post.
The trio walked around campus, enjoying some of the greenery, architecture and study spaces the college has to offer. In one shot, the proud dad smiled with Zaya as they posed together under an umbrella — in UW purple! — and in another, the teen posed between tables and shelves in the college’s famous Suzzallo Library.
In the caption of the post, the NBA alum could not contain his excitement, writing, “We’re in the College Visits season!!!”
In a November interview with PEOPLE, Wade said he strives to show Zaya “unconditional love.”
“I don’t want to just be one of those people who’s just been given to Zaya and she doesn’t feel open and confident in me,” he told PEOPLE. “I want to show her what unconditional love looks like so she can use me as this sounding board through life.”
“I feel like it’s shown in Zaya,” he added of the teen, who came out as transgender in 2020 at age 12. “It’s shown in Zaya through the world because of her being a part of the trans community.”
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