Taiwan grants same-sex couples right to adopt in huge step toward equality
Taiwan’s legislature has passed a historic bill granting same-sex couples the right to jointly adopt a child neither of them are related to.
The legislation was approved on 16 May and clears one of the final hurdles in Taiwan achieving full marriage equality. Prior to this, only heterosexual couples and single people were allowed to adopt children they have no biological relation to – resulting in only one person in a same-sex couple being able to legally register as the child’s parent, even if they were both raising them.
Fan Yun, a lawmaker from the Democratic Progressive Party, was among those that helped bring about the change. “I am very excited that we granted joint adoption rights to same-sex couples today,” she said, adding: “Legally, we have finally returned same-sex couples to their children. “Parental love is the same, and only through joint adoption can we protect the rights and interests of each other by law.” READ MORE: Taiwan blames “political considerations” for cancellation of WorldPride 2025 The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, one of the island’s LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, hailed the move as proof there is “consensus” in Taiwan “to protect the human rights of LGBTI peoples and promote gender equality”.
It follows the Taiwanese government in January allowing someone from Taiwan to marry a foreign spouse of the same sex, even if their partner is from somewhere that does not recognise same-sex marriage.
