Older children are three times as likely to be adopted by foreign applicants than domestic applicants, despite a legal change in 2011 giving priority to adopters within Taiwan.
The number of domestic adoptions were growing steadily before the COVID-19 pandemic, said Cathwel Service, a branch of the US Catholic Relief Service that among other social welfare initiatives helps connect children with adoptive families.
From 2012 to 2018, there were more than 200 adoptions per year, peaking at 340, Cathwel Service chief executive officer Ting Yen-chi (丁雁琪) said.
Domestic adoptions over the period rose significantly following a 2011 amendment to the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法) to prioritize domestic adopters, growing from 80 in 2012 to 137 in 2018, she added.
However, the vast majority of children adopted by domestic families were younger than three, Ting said.
A total of 624 children were adopted during this period, but only 160, or about one-fourth, joined families in Taiwan, she said.
Taiwanese parents prefer to raise children from infancy and tend not to adopt children with health issues or complex family backgrounds, Ting said.
Biological parents in challenging circumstances are first given the chance to raise their child with assistance, but if their home situation does not improve by the time the child becomes two or three, they are taken to court to request revocation of their parental rights, she said.
By the time this process is completed, the child is often older than three and beyond the preferred adoption age, she added.
Adoptive families are always informed of the child’s background to ensure they are a good fit and to give the child a chance to later reconnect with their roots, Ting said.
However, Taiwanese parents often have a hard time accepting the situation after learning the developmental challenges they might face, she said.
On the other hand, foreign couples, due to religious or cultural reasons, are relatively more willing to adopt children with special needs, she added.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made adopting from abroad more difficult, as the New Taipei City Social Welfare Department made clear through two recent examples.
Although one nine-year-old boy was ready to join his new family in Australia, the imposition of travel restrictions meant it was “hard for foreigners to come and for Taiwanese to leave,” it said.
Determined to make it work despite the restrictions, the adoption agency approached a friend who knew the boy and also had plans to travel to Australia, the department said.
It also contacted the airline to arrange for a flight attendant to accompany the child on his flight to ease his anxiety and make sure he was delivered safely to his awaiting family, it added.
In another case, seven-year-old Hsiao Wen (小文), during his more than four years at an orphanage, discovered that he had two brothers who were both adopted by the same family in the US, the department said.
The family was contacted about Hsiao Wen and agreed to a trial adoption, it said.
Since travel was not possible, he got to know the family remotely through his eldest brother, who speaks Chinese, it said.
Once all the paperwork was completed, the parents decided to bring the entire family to Taiwan to meet Hsiao Wen in person, it said.
In November last year, he flew with his new family back to the US and according to the adoption agency, the three brothers are getting along just fine, the department said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS