Gabrielle Union doesn’t feel like an outsider with her stepchildren.
“I recognize that I am lucky,” the Being Mary Jane actress told Us Weekly at a Lime-a-Rita event in NYC on February 22. “Not everyone has the same situation.”
The Bring It On alum, who wed Dwyane Wade in August 2014, is helping the NBA star to raise his sons, Zaire, 14, Zion, 8, and Xavier, 2, and his nephew Dahveon, 13.
“My advice is just to be fair, reasonable and consistent,” the star revealed. “If you’re going to be a pushover, be a pushover. If you’re going to be a disciplinarian, be a disciplinarian. But be consistent so that [the kids] can get used to whoever it is that you are.”
The boys make their stepmother proud every day.
“They are dope kids,” Union told Us. “I have a lot of proud moments where I’m, like, in tears. They are smart, they are kind and just all-around amazing kids, and I tell them that.”
The 43-year-old, who calls Wade “the perfect” father, has been open about her struggle to give him one more child.
“So far, it has not happened for us,” Union confessed to Redbook in September 2015. “A lot of my friends deal with this.”
She went on to reflect on what happens to women when they prioritize work. “There’s a certain amount of shame that is placed on women who have perhaps chosen a career over starting a family younger,” she mused. “The penance for being a career woman is barrenness. You feel like you’re wearing a scarlet letter.”
