On Tuesday, May 16, four years after the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the country, the Legislature in Taiwan passed an amendment that grants full adoption rights to same-sex married couples.

Tomorrow will mark the 4th anniversary of the day when Taiwan became the first country in the Asian continent to legalise same-sex marriage by passing the Act for Implementation of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748. Despite this landmark achievement, the law did not bring full equality to same-sex couples in Taiwan, as it only allowed adoption in case the child was biologically related to one of the partners.

With the amendment passed on May 16, Article 20 of the law now states that the adoption provisions will apply in all cases, including where “one party to the [same sex union] adopts the child of the other party, or where the couple jointly adopts a child”.

The amendment passed with no objections, thus establishing that same-sex couples will go through the same process of adoption as any other couple under Taiwan’s law. This change comes after LGBTQ+ activists in the country campaigned for equal adoption rights since the law on same-sex marriage was passed in 2019.

Taiwan has passed an amendment to the law, allowing same-sex couples to legally adopt children, four years after it legalized same-sex marriage. https://t.co/4UplIZFSpd pic.twitter.com/ikrSttJiFt

— Taiwan News (@TaiwanNewsEN) May 16, 2023

The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR), which was among the groups who advocated for the amendment, commented by saying: “This success once again proves that Taiwan’s social consensus is to protect the human rights of LGBTI people and promote gender equality. In the future, we will continue to work toward equal rights based on this consensus”.

New Power Party member Claire Wang also welcomed the news, saying that what really matters is that parents love and respect their children, whereas gender and sexuality have no bearing on establishing whether someone is suitable to become a parent. “Instead, we should use specific and reliable information, such as the current status of the adopter, trial adoption, social worker visits, and comprehensive evaluations,” Wang said.