Taiwan

Adopting a child from Taiwan

Who can adopt?

 

Who can adopt? Who can’t adopt?
Married couples De facto couples
Same sex couples
Single applicants

Please note: In 2023, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan amended the same-sex marriage law to allow same-sex couples to adopt children they are not biologically related to.

Both adoption agencies in Taiwan (the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF), and Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation (Chung Yi) will accept applications from Australian same-sex couples, however these applications may take longer to process.

Children you can adopt from Taiwan

Children in need of intercountry adoption are:

  • toddlers up to the age of 3 who have complex medical and social issues including:
    • birth family with mental illness, psychiatric problems and intellectual disability
    • maternal drug abuse (heroin, amphetamine)
    • neonatal abstinence syndrome
    • premature birth
    • hepatitis C or B
    • correctable health defects, medical conditions or physical issues
    • undernourishment from neglect
    • physical abuse
    • older children and sibling groups aged 4 to 7 years old with complicated social histories. They live in government supervised foster homes or institutions and often have some developmental delay

Please note: From April 2022 CWLF will accept applications for children younger than 48 months. However, in order to meet the needs of children, CWLF will be prioritising families who are only willing to adopt children with more complex family background and special needs. Families that are not willing to adopt children with complex family backgrounds and special needs are unlikely to be considered by CWLF.

Specific eligibility criteria to adopt from Taiwan

If you’re interested in adopting a child from Taiwan you need to meet the eligibility criteria of your state or territory central authority.

You will also need to meet the criteria of the 2 Taiwanese adoption agencies that we work with:

Each agency has their own criteria as listed below:

Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF)

CWLF accepts applications from residents of all Australian States and Territories.

Marriage

  • Heterosexual, same sex couples and single applicants are allowed to apply.
  • Must be married if applying as a couple.

Age

  • The age difference between adoptive parents and the adoptee must be between 20 and 50 years, but preferably between 20 and 45.

Education

  • Applicants must be at least high school graduates (or of equivalent educational level approved by the state/territory government).

Number of children in your family

  • The number of children in the applicants’ family must be no more than 3 (including the adopted child(ren), there must be no more than 4 children in the family).
  • Adopted child(ren) must be the youngest child in the family. There should be a 1 year age difference between the adoptee(s) and the youngest child already established in the family.

Finances

  • The finance status of applicants will be taken into consideration in assessing their suitability as prospective adoptive parents.

Criminal record

  • Applicants with a criminal record will be accepted for assessment, but the type of crime and the date that the crime was committed will be taken into consideration.

Additional information

  • you must be willing to maintain contact with the birth family if they consent, as CWLF encourages open adoptions.
  • birth parents or guardians may be involved in the selection of adopted parents for their child.
  • you are encouraged to consider what special skills and resources you have to parent a child with special needs and institutionalised children.
  • if you don’t meet the age or number of children criteria you may still be considered on a case-by-case basis for children and sibling groups who couldn’t be placed.

Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation (Chung Yi)

Chung Yi accepts applications from residents of all Australian States and Territories. At least one applicant will need to have Australian Citizenship.

Marriage

  • you need to have been married for at least 2 years
  • you can’t have been divorced more than once (i.e. the PAPs are in a second marriage). If the marriage is the third marriage of one of the applicants or of both, the marriage needs to have lasted for more than seven years and will be assessed on an individual case-by-case basis.)
  • you can be a same sex couple
  • you can be single
  • you can’t be a de facto couple

Health

  • you must be physically and mentally healthy without any medical conditions that will affect your parenting ability
  • if you have experienced depression your application will be considered on a case-by-case basis
  • you should have a BMI of less than 30
  • If your BMI is over 30, you will need to provide a medical certificate, weight loss plan, and an explanation of your lifestyle. Chung Yi will need to gain a further understanding of your health condition before accepting the application
  • You may still be considered if your BMI is over 30 but priority will be given to those with a BMI under 30.

Education

  • you should have at least graduated from high school

Number of children in your family

  • you can’t have more than 4 children

Finances

  • you and/or your partner should have a stable occupation and income

Criminal record

  • you can’t have a criminal record that will affect your parenting ability such as
    • drug use and/or possession
    • domestic violence or an AVO (apprehended violence order)

Additional information

  • you must be willing to maintain contact with the birth family if they consent, as Chung Yi encourages open adoptions
  • birth parents or guardians may be involved in the selection of adopted parents for their child
  • you are encouraged to consider what special skills and resources you have to parent a child with special needs and institutionalised children

Waiting times

Waiting times are up to 3 years from when Taiwan accepts your file. There are shorter waiting times if you are adopting a child with special needs.

Cost of adopting a child from Taiwan

The estimated fees are US$5,000 to US$14,000.

Other fees

On top of state and territory central authority fees, there are other expenses such as:

  • translation fees
  • travel and accommodation costs
  • incidentals

Travel to Taiwan

You may need to travel twice. Once to attend a court hearing in Taiwan before you travel again to meet your child.

The time between the court case and picking up your child can vary. This depends on if the judge decides to fast track the decision-making process.

If your case is heard quickly, you can take your child home within 2 to 3 weeks of the court hearing. In this case, you can stay in Taiwan until the process is finalised.

After the adoption

All adoptions completed in Taiwan are recognised when coming back to Australia.

You will need to complete post-placement reports for Taiwan. Your state and territory central authority will advise you of the reporting requirements.

These reports are important to ensure your child is settling in to your family and their new social environment.

You may also need to complete post-placement reports for your state or territory central authority.

Immigration and citizenship for your child

Once you have the adoption compliance certificate, your child is eligible to apply for Australian citizenship. The application usually takes 10 days to process. You can then apply for an Australian passport so they can travel back to Australia with you.

Your child could also travel to Australia on adoption visa (subclass 102). When you enter Australia, you need to apply for ‘citizenship by conferral’, as soon as possible.

Hague Convention information

Taiwan doesn’t operate under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Rather we have a bilateral arrangement that complies with the Hague Convention standards.

Taiwan will attempt to place a child within a family in Taiwan before deciding if a child can be placed through intercountry adoption.

More information