Taiwan is one another one of those smaller Asian adoption programs that seems to be getting more and more attention as parents look for options other than the long referral waits associated with China and Korea. In 2005 the USCIS reported 141 adopted children from Taiwan coming into the U.S. on immigrant visas.

Taiwan is a small island off of mainland China, with a population of over 22 million people. Birth mothers in Taiwan are given the option of choosing a family for their baby, which is unlike most international adoption programs. The birth mothers in Taiwan are well cared for, supported, educated and given job training, sexual education and emotional counseling throughout their pregnancy and placement and after the process.

To many families in Taiwan, adoption is still not an acceptable option for creating a family and there are strong social stigmas against single mothers, combined with poverty, that create orphans in need of loving homes.
I do believe that it is possible to do an independent adoption from Taiwan (not use an agency) but this is something that someone interested in should research very carefully.

Parent Requirements- Please note that different orphanages in Taiwan have different requirements, so there may be additional requirements depending on the agency/orphanage you work with.

Parents must be between the ages of 25 and 45 and be married a minimum of five years. Smaller families are typically preferred, but larger families are permitted to adopt older children, special needs children and sibling groups.

Children Available- The Taiwan program matches newborn babies to adoptive families, and older children are also available. Many agencies have waiting children. Older and special needs children are available as well as sibling groups. Like most adoption programs, there are frequently more boys waiting for a home than girls, because of adoptive parents’ preference for girls.

The children are typically cared for in small orphanages and receive very good care. In some cases children are cared for in foster care.

Process in a nutshell- Along with the typical homestudy and CIS approval, adoptive parents prepare a dossier of required documents and a profile to be shown to birth mothers, if they are adopting a newborn infant. Wait for a referral varies, but is estimated at four months on the short side and 14 months on the long side, with six months sounding like the average. The wait for a referral for an older child or a special needs child is considerably shorter.

Once a referral is accepted, parents can expect to wait four to eight months, with six months being average, for the legal process to be completed in Taiwan. Once the legal process is complete, parents are able to travel for their child, or sometimes escort is possible. Parents that travel can expect a trip of one week or less. Taiwan is a beautiful country and the people there are reportedly very kind and gracious to adopting parents.

Fees- Fee information can be difficult to estimate because most agencies do not place their fee information on their website and fees can vary significantly from agency to agency, but I have seen a Taiwan adoption estimated to cost between $8,000 and $10,000 without travel. Fees are often significantly reduced for the adoption of a special needs child or a sibling group.

The U.S. Dept. of State provides this info sheet with information about Taiwan adoption. The General Asian Adoption Forum at Adoption.com has frequent messages about Taiwan adoption and the Taiwan Adoption Yahoo group is a great place to start looking for more information.

Here are some of the agencies I found with Taiwan programs, I am sure that there are some I have missed. I am not recommending any of these as I don’t have any experience with them. Please research all agencies carefully.
An Open Door Adoption Agency
Faithful Adoptions
Reaching Out Thru International Adoption
Commonwealth Adoptions
Families For Children
St. Lucy Center Orphanage in Taiwan

Please note that international adoption information can vary from agency to agency and change frequently. This information is research I have done to aid readers only, and all prospective adoptive parents should use this as general info only and contact a licensed adoption agency (or several agencies) to verify information before choosing a program.

*This post is part of a series, giving information on countries and international adoption programs that allow transracial adoption. To see all of the countries I have given information on thus far, click on the category "Transracial Adoption Options" on the right-hand side of this page.