A Taiwanese court approves first married gay couple to adopt a non-biological child
Wang Chen-wei (王振圍) and Chen Chun-ju (陳俊儒) are the first Taiwanese gay couple granted the legal right to adopt a child that is not of their biological origin. Wang Chen-wei adopted baby Joujou before the couple tied the knot. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Taiwan in 2019, the couple married and began their fight to legalize them both being recognized as Joujou’s parents.
Even though same-sex marriage was legalized in 2019 in Taiwan, the change in law didn’t grant same-sex couples quite the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. Access to adoption services was definitely one of the things that were not included in the package.
While the family court ruled that it was in Joujou’s best interest to have both Wang and Chen registered as her official parents, this does not automatically mean that all same-sex parents will also be afforded the same access to adoption services. In fact, the couple stated that if they decide they want to grow their family, they may not be given the same accommodations again.
The law which legalized same-sex marriage in Taiwan, the Act for Implementation of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748, provides an adoption clause in article 20 for biological means, which would then allow the child to be adopted by the incoming spouse, but no such provisions were included for non-biological children.
“We will continue to fight. The key is having the law revised,” he wrote. “If our family wants to adopt another child, will we have to go through the same process again and gamble on which judicial affairs officer we get? Or will the law have been amended so it won’t be so hard for everybody?” said Wang.
Other couples have recently gone before the courts requesting non-biological adoption rights and have been denied. They are currently appealing their cases.
The family court approved Joujou’s legal adoption on December 25, 2021.
