This year, in a landmark court case, the two men became the first same-sex couple on the island to legally adopt a child to whom neither is related.
They are now living the family dream with their 4-year-old daughter Joju in the southern city of Kaohsiung, in an apartment decorated with rainbow flags and family photos. Yet while their married life is happy, their tortured court victory is bittersweet.
“We can’t be too happy about our victory because many of our friends are still facing a lot of difficulties,” said Chen, 35. “Even after same-sex marriage was legalized, we didn’t feel welcome to have children together, because a family,” added Wang, 38. “We were treated like second-class citizens.”
Although in 2019 Taiwan became the first jurisdiction in the region to legalize same-sex marriage, the legal change did not grant full adoption rights to same-sex couples.
This created a strange loophole in which heterosexual couples – and single people of any sexual orientation – are allowed to adopt children to whom they are not biologically related, but same-sex couples are not. To this day, Wang and Chen remain the only same-sex married couple on the island to have done so.
A stain on a progressive reputation
Activists say the loophole shows that despite the progress Taiwan has made in recognizing LGBTQ rights, the island has a long way to go before same-sex couples have true equality.
The adoption gap is not the only problem left over from 2019. The legal change also failed to give full recognition to same-sex transnational marriages; foreign spouses are only recognized if same-sex marriages are also legal in their home jurisdiction.
Freddie Lim, an independent member of parliament in Taiwan who advocates for LGBTQ rights, said the loophole arose because at the time the law was changed, society was still “facing a lot of opposition from anti-LGBTQ groups.” , so the government is focusing “only on the legalization of marriage, but not on rights related to the adoption of children.”
However, Lim believes attitudes have changed enough since then for the law to change again. In May, Lim and a bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed updating the law with a bill he hopes will be passed by the end of the year.
“If a society treats people differently based on their sexual orientation, there should be a strong public interest reason. But there isn’t, so this is clearly a form of discrimination,” Lim said.
From despair to wonder
Any change can’t come too soon for Wang and Chen, who hope their friends will be spared the ordeal they face.
Wang and Chen, both teachers from southern Taiwan, had been dating for more than a decade when they began the adoption process in 2016. Wang applied on her own behalf and the court confirmed his suitability in 2019 – after rigorous background checks on both men from social workers.
Things seemed set for a happy married life.
“When same-sex marriage was legalized (one year later), we had the hope of raising a child together,” Chen recalled.
However, Chen has been told that he will not be able to register as the girl’s legal parent – even if the two marry. It was heartbreaking for Chen, who found himself prevented from exercising the kind of parental duties most families take for granted — like signing his daughter’s school or bank documents.
“Every time we had to apply for our daughter, I was afraid of being asked about my relationship with her. I was always her father, but I was not recognized as a parent,” Chen said.
In April last year, Wang and Chen – along with two other couples – filed petitions with the Kaohsiung City Family Court. They had expected the case to be dismissed – thinking they could then appeal to Taiwan’s Supreme Court and eventually force a change in the law.
However, to their surprise, in January the family court ruled in their favor on the grounds that it was in Joujou’s best interest to have both legal parents. The other two cases were dismissed.
“I was amazed, it was a miracle,” Chen said. “Until then, I was living with my daughter, but I was not related to her by law.
Wang said the ruling is important for two reasons: It makes it easier for the couple to care for their daughter — and it also gives hope to other couples like them.
“I feel relieved now,” Wang said. “We can both act as legal parents and share the burden. And if Joujou gets sick and needs to see a doctor, we both have the right to take time off and take care of her.”
A tough fight
The problem is that the family court ruling only applies to Wang and Chen. Other same-sex couples in Taiwan still face an uphill battle.
Jordan, an American woman, struggles to register as the mother of her Taiwanese wife’s adopted child. She met her wife Ray six years ago and Ray began the adoption process in 2018 – before the couple married.
The couple asked CNN to withhold their full names to protect the 7-year-old girl.
“At first it was just my wife adopting because I wasn’t really sure whether or not I wanted to be a parent at the time,” Jordan said. “But within about a month of my daughter coming home, she and I developed a really close relationship.”
Last April, Jordan filed her petition in family court at the same time as Wang and Chen. However, her case was dismissed.
“We want equal protection under the law,” she said. “If something happened to my wife – she has an auto-immune disease, with Covid approaching – then my daughter would not only lose her mother but also me because she would be taken away from me as I am not allowed to adopt her,” she said.
“We’re a family, but it still feels like we’re not a complete family. If this is a right that is given to ordinary people, it is important for us to treat it exactly the same way,” she added.
Jordan said that although Taiwan’s progressive reputation has been boosted by the legalization of same-sex marriage, more efforts are needed to ensure equality for LGBTQ couples.
“A lot of people — even here in Taiwan — don’t realize that we still don’t have full equality,” she said.
“It really kind of stopped us from being able to celebrate as much as we wanted to.”
Still, activists say there is reason for optimism.
Joyce Teng, deputy executive director of the Taiwan Equality Campaign, said since same-sex marriage was legalized three years ago, there has been a “higher level of acceptance and support” in society.
In its latest annual survey, released last month, the campaign found that 67 percent of Taiwanese support allowing LGBTQ couples to adopt children, an increase of 8 percent from a year ago.
Wang said he hopes the law will be amended as soon as possible so that other couples can enjoy the same rights as he and Chen.
“There are many families who are afraid to file petitions in court because they don’t want to attract public or media attention,” Wang said. “If the law remains unchanged, many may be afraid to assert their rights.”
There is also Taiwan’s reputation to consider – not only as an enlightened LGBTQ rights jurisdiction, but also its image as a free and democratic beacon in the Asia-Pacific region.
“When the international community looks at Taiwan, we are often seen as the first line of defense against authoritarianism,” said Rep. Lim.
“But if we want to truly portray ourselves as free, equal and democratic … then we need to recognize and address the injustices in our society — and LGBTQ rights are an important part of that.”
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