In a historic moment, Taiwan will now allow married same-sex couples to jointly adopt non-biological children.
Same-sex couple Amber (L) and Huan Huan pose for photographs during a wedding event to raise HIV awareness a day after Taiwan’s parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage, on May 18, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
Same-sex activists hug outside the parliament in Taipei on May 24, 2017 as they celebrate the landmark decision paving the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage. (SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)
However, the law only allowed same-sex couples to adopt children who are biologically related to one parent.
A same-sex Taiwanese couple kiss their three year-old son as they celebrate after Taiwan’s parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage on May 17, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan.(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
This meant that if a same-sex couple wanted to adopt a non-biological child, only one partner could be the child’s legal parent.
A same-sex couple at the first LGBTQ wedding ceremony in front of Taipei 101 tower on May 24, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo by Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images)
In January 2022, a same-sex couple in the southern city of Kaohsiung had won a lawsuit to jointly adopt a child.
Taiwanese same-sex couple Shane Lin (R) and Marc Yuan pose for photos in front of Taipei 101 tower during a wedding ceremony in Shinyi district in Taipei on May 24, 2019. (Photo by SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)
On Tuesday May 16, Taiwan’s parliament passed an amendment that allows same-sex couples to jointly adopt children, further moving the country towards achieving full marriage equality.
Newly-wedded same-sex couple Yi Wang (R) and Yumi Meng pose for a photograph during a mass wedding at Taiwan’s Army Command Headquarters in Taoyuan on October 30, 2020, where two Taiwanese soldiers and their civilian same-sex partners tied the knot marking another gay rights landmark in Asia. (Photo by SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have finally returned the children of same-sex couples to their parents on paper,” Fan Yun, a member of parliament who had pushed for the amendment, wrote on Facebook. “Parental love is the same, and it is only through joint adoption that we can protect the rights and interests of each other by law.”
People celebrate after Taiwan’s parliament voted to legalise same-sex marriage on May 17, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Earlier in the year, the country also began allowing Taiwanese people to marry a same-sex partner from another country, even if that country does not recognize same-sex marriage.
