Taiwan grants equal adoption rights for same-sex couples

Shanghai, China, May 16 (EFE).- The Taiwan parliament Tuesday passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to jointly adopt children that are not related to either of them, state media reported.

The amendment was made to a law that legalized same-sex marriage for the first time in Taiwan in 2019, according to CNA news agency.

Taiwan was the first country in Asia to approve same-sex marriages.

Previously, the law only allowed same-sex couples to adopt children biologically related to one of them.

The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, an LGBT rights advocate organization, called the amendment to the law “a success” that will allow same-sex couples to build a “complete” family.

“This success once again shows that the consensus in Taiwan is to protect the human rights of LGBTI people and promote gender equality,” the group said in a statement.

Previously, only heterosexual couples and single people were allowed to adopt children that they were not biologically related to.

For this reason, same-sex couples faced complex legal challenges in adoption, often requiring them to divorce and remarry after adopting a child not biologically related to them.

Taiwan Health and Welfare Ministry announced, with the amendment, it would practically begin to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. EFE

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