Taiwan has specific requirements that a child must meet in order to be eligible for adoption. You cannot adopt a child in Taiwan unless he or she meets these requirements, and is listed on the database of adoptable children available for inter-country adoptions maintained by the Child Welfare Bureau (Er Tong Ju), Ministry of Interior. In general, families need to be open to children who are older, ages 4 to 15.
Taiwan has a very strong child welfare system that uses international adoption as a last option for a child to join a family. Domestic adoption does happen. When a child is relinquished s/he is added to a database for the purpose of domestic adoption. After a set period of time, s/he is then placed on an international adoption database.
13.13% of Taiwan’s population is children under the age of 14. The size of this age group is shrinking as the country has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world at 1.12 children per woman (2016 est.).
Children's rights and welfare are protected by the governmental Child Welfare Bureau, which works with other relevant departments and agencies. Families with low incomes have access to cash and non-cash benefits. Children who are particularly at risk of losing parental care are those who live in single-parent households, or where the main earner suffers from a severe illness or injury.
Children are cared for in orphanages, small group homes, as well as foster homes. Taiwanese adoptions may also include birth parents’ involvement in the adoption matching. Birth parent consent or approval, when known and able, is part of the process by which the local Taiwanese organizations and county governments ready the case for the court adoption process.
There is no central authority in Taiwanese adoptions as there are in other Hague accredited countries. Each case is looked at individually. There are now six Taiwanese organizations licensed to facilitate international adoptions in Taiwan.
In general, children are prepared for adoption, and families have more realistic expectations of the children because they have received detailed information before placement and in most cases, families will Skype with their child at least 3-4 times prior to the child arriving home.
Boys and girls of all ages, sibling groups and waiting children are available. The children are waiting children and families submit home studies for a particular child in order to be matched. The wait time for an older child is likely to be less.
Eligibility requirements are generally more flexible. Photos and medical information can be reviewed prior to match, and adoption subsidies are often available for waiting children.