Taiwan

Adopting a child from Taiwan

Who can adopt?

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

Please note: From April 2022 the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) will be accepting 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.

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

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 NSW, NT, Victoria, QLD, WA and ACT.

Marriage

  • you need to have been married for at least 3 years
  • you can’t have been divorced more than twice
  • you can’t be a same sex or de facto couple
  • you can apply if you’re single to adopt a child with very complex special needs

Age

Both you and your partner (married couple) need to be:

  • aged under 50 years (preferred)
  • the age gap between yourself and your child must be between 20 and 50 years but preferably 20 and 45

Health

  • you should be in good mental and physical health
  • you may be considered if you have experienced:
    • mental illness but its preferred that you are no longer on medication and haven’t been diagnosed with depression for 3 years before applying
    • emotional illness
    • cancer but it’s preferred that you have stopped treatment and haven’t had a relapse in the past 5 years

Education

  • you should have at least graduated from high school

Number of children in your family

  • you can’t have more than 4 children (including your adopted child)
  • your adopted child must be the youngest in the family with at least a 1 year age gap between them and the next oldest child

Finances

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

Criminal record

  • you can have a criminal record but the type of crime and the date it was committed are taken into account

Additional information

  • you must be willing to maintain contact with the birth family if they consent, as CWFL 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 NSW and SA. If you live in another state or territory applications to adopt children over 5 years of age with special needs will be accepted.

Marriage

  • you need to have been married for at least 2 years
  • you can’t have been divorced more than twice
  • you can’t be single
  • you can’t be a same sex or 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 may still be considered but priority is 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