Behind the Baby: Gabrielle Union’s Emotional IVF Journey to Motherhood

Gabrielle Union

After years of miscarriages, trauma, and soul-searching, Gabrielle Union opened up about the path that led her to surrogacy—and finally, her daughter Kaavia James.

For years, Gabrielle Union was silent about the private pain she carried. While smiling in front of cameras, she was secretly facing one of life’s most intimate and heartbreaking battles: infertility. Her journey through IVF wasn’t just medical—it was emotional, societal, and deeply personal.

Union revealed in her memoir, We’re Going to Need More Wine, that she had experienced over eight or nine miscarriages. Despite the hope that each IVF round might work, she later learned she had a condition called adenomyosis—where uterine tissue grows into the muscular wall—making it nearly impossible for her to carry a pregnancy to term.

“For three years, my body was a prisoner of trying to get pregnant,” she said. “I was doing everything: acupuncture, fertility drugs, meditation. I wanted to believe it would happen.”

Eventually, Gabrielle and her husband, NBA star Dwyane Wade, made the decision that would change everything: they chose surrogacy. In November 2018, they welcomed their daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade, lovingly nicknamed “Shady Baby” for her hilarious expressions.

But the decision wasn’t simple. Union confessed she felt guilt and grief at not carrying Kaavia herself. “You feel like you’re failing as a woman. It’s a shame that comes from deep societal expectations,” she shared in a Red Table Talk interview. “But I had to redefine what motherhood meant for me.”

Today, Gabrielle Union uses her platform to normalize IVF and surrogacy, especially among Black women, who face cultural stigma around fertility. Her openness is helping countless women understand that there’s no ‘right’ way to become a mother.

“Kaavia didn’t come from my body, but she came from my soul,” Union says. “And that’s what makes her mine.”

Behind the perfect Instagram photos and red carpet glamor is a woman who redefined motherhood on her own terms—with pain, courage, and finally, joy.