• Zaya Wade, daughter of Gabrielle Union and retired basketball star Dwyane Wade, came out as transgender and confirmed she uses "she/her" pronouns last week. 
• The retired NBA star told Robin Roberts on Good Morning America that his daughter knew her gender identity for nine years before coming out to her parents. 
• "She's known it for nine years. She's known since she was 3 years old," Wade told GMA. "Along this way we've asked questions and we've learned. But she's known."
• While some people who critique parents for letting their children transition say trans kids are  "too young" to know their gender identity, a 2019 study found transgender children know their identity at the same time their cisgender peers do. 
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Zaya Wade, the 12-year-old daughter of retired basketball star Dwyane Wade, made headlines when she came out as transgender and confirmed her use of "she/her" pronouns last week. 

But according to the retired NBA star, Zaya has known her gender identity since she was three years old. 

"She's known it for nine years. She's known since she was three years old," Wade told GMA. "Along this way, we've asked questions and we've learned. But she's known."

Wade told host Robin Roberts that he had to learn little by little about what it meant for his daughter to be transgender, with the guidance of Zaya herself.

"I've been a person in a locker room that has been a part of the conversation that has said the wrong phrases and the wrong words myself," Wade continued. "As I got older and I watched my daughter grow, I had to go and look at myself in the mirror and say, 'Who are you? What are you going to do if your child comes home and says, "Dad, I'm not a boy … I'm a trans girl." What are you going to do?' That was my moment of real."

Like Zaya, many transgender kids who are able to socially transition know their gender identity at a young age

In a PNAS study published November 2019, the largest ever conducted on transgender children to date, researchers surveyed 317 transgender kids ages three to 12 who had "socially transitioned," or who live as the gender they identify with.

The researchers found no significant differences between the trans and cis kids' gender development, or how they grew to understand and formulate their gender. The findings also revealed that transgender children gravitate toward the same gendered toys, clothing items, and friends as cisgender participants, regardless of how long they had been socially transitioned.  

This challenges the idea that transgender children are "too young" to make the decision to transition socially or medically. And, when transitioning can mean the difference between a slew of mental health issues, trauma, or even suicide and living a healthier, happier life, these findings and their implications are especially important. 

Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

Wade's biggest piece of advice to parents of transgender children is to listen to their children because they are the best educators on their own gender identities. 

"[Zaya] is our leader. The one thing with parents is have conversations with your kids," Wade said. "Zaya knew two things when she was growing up — she knew straight and she knew gay. But Zaya started doing more research, she was the one who sat down with us as a family." 

Wade told Roberts that regardless of his daughter's gender identity, she's a kid who wants to focus on being a kid just like anyone else her age. 

"She's a kid that wants to focus on school," Wade told Roberts. "Today, she has a mock trial at school that she's stressing about and she said 'Dad, I came out to everyone because I wanted to be me, and I'm thankful I'm able to be me but I need to focus on my trial at school.'"

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