A married same-sex couple made history in Taiwan recently when they legally adopted a child they weren’t biologically related to. The decision was made after the couple challenged local adoption laws in court. Wang Chen-wei and Chen Chun-ju, who have been in a relationship for 16 years, were with their daughter, nicknamed Joujou, when they signed adoption paperwork at the Taipei household registration office.
“I have everything now. I am married and just like heterosexual couples, we can have our own children,” Wang said. “But we were born to have and enjoy all of this, we are not a charity case. We shouldn’t have had to fight for it.”
While Taiwan became the first jurisdiction in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019, the country didn’t remove all inequalities for lesbian and gay people. When it comes to same-sex couples’ adoption rights, “Full legislation rather than an amendment was passed,” according to The Guardian. “It includes a provision that allows someone to adopt a spouse’s biological child, but says nothing about adoption rights if neither partner is the biological parent. The provision does not exist in other marriage laws.”
In Taiwan, single people can apply to adopt a child, as well as married heterosexual couples. But married same-sex couples have to divorce if they want to adopt a child that isn’t biologically related to either parent. That way, one person out of the couple adopts as a single person. “They can then remarry, but current law does not allow the partner to adopt and be registered as a parent, leaving them without equal rights.”
Wang and Chen delayed getting married in order to complete Wang’s adoption of Joujou. They then went to court to have Chen recognised as Joujou’s other parent:
“On 25 December, the Kaohsiung juvenile and family court ruled that a child should not be discriminated against because of their parents’ status, and that the law did not expressly prohibit the adoption of adopted children. The ruling allowed Chen to adopt Joujou and be registered as a parent alongside Wang.”
Chen and Wang hope the adoption of Joujou will lead to more adoption rights for same-sex couples. The pair would love to adopt a second child but that’s not possible until the law changes.
“Gay adoptive families are forced to choose between children and spouses, and between adoption and marriage,” the pair wrote on Facebook shortly after signing the adoption papers.
“I hope that our first story of victory as a gay couple will serve as a foundation for the full practice of fair, equal treatment for other LGBT families,” said Chen.
Chu Chiajong, the director of Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy, said the ruling was “brave” because the judge made a decision based on the child’s best interest and, in Wang and Chen’s case, the parents were “seen as equal under the law.”
“At the end of the day, someone finally acknowledged it’s all about a child’s best interests, not just about the rights of an LGBT couple,” Chu said. “Now their daughter’s ID shows both parents’ names on it. It means she finally is legally under the protection of both parents, of both dads.”
As for making it easier for same-sex couples to adopt in the future, “We just need to fix one word in the same-sex marriage law, just the word ‘genetic’,” said Chu. “If we get rid of that word it would allow LGBT couples to adopt.”
