Gender rights activists yesterday called on adoption agencies and the government to relax regulations on adoption and artificial insemination so that unmarried women and homosexual couples could also have children.
“The definition of ‘family’ is quickly changing in society. However, while the government recognizes that there’s a growing number of single-parent families, it’s still quite narrow-minded about what a family is,” Huang Chang-ling (黃長玲), a representative of the Awakening Foundation, told a news conference yesterday.
“Somehow, the government and adoption agencies think that a woman can still be a good mother after getting divorced, but an unmarried woman cannot become a good mother,” Huang said.
She said that some women were just not made for marriage, but they would still be good mothers.
Right now, most adoption agencies in the country require adoptive parents to be a husband and wife.
Although the Civil Code (民法) and the Children and Juveniles Welfare Act (兒童及青少年福利法) only stipulate that a court rule on an adoption case based on an evaluation of an adoptive parent’s personal character, economic status, family condition and childcare experience in the past, many of the rulings are still made based on marriage status or sexual orientation.
A lesbian’s application to adopt her sister’s child was rejected by a court in Taoyuan County two years ago because of her sexual orientation, Les Hand Association vice-chairwoman, who is nicknamed Hsiao Yi (小逸), said during the press conference.
“The two sisters had already agreed on the adoption, but it was blocked during the legal process because the judge worried that the child may have a ‘confused sexual orientation’ if he or she were brought up by a lesbian,” Hsiao Yi said.
Because adoption is ruled out, many homosexual couples and unmarried women turn to technology for a solution.
“Unfortunately, the Artificial Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) says that only a married man and woman are qualified to use the option [of artificial insemination],” said Chen Chao-ju (陳昭如), another Awakening Foundation member.
A representative from the Taiwan Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Family Rights Advocacy Association nicknamed Hsiang (祥) said the law has created social injustice along with other problems.
“A lot of unmarried celebrities go to other countries for artificial insemination, but most of us don’t have the money to do that — it’s not fair,” she said. “So in order to have a child, many lesbians enter into fake unions, and a lot of problems occur for lesbians in fake marriages.”
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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