It appears that the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in Taiwan may be planning to make surrogacy legal in that country. It’s not clear whether the amendment they intend to make would actually pass all the scrutiny needed to become law, but either way it would solve the hotly debated matter. Surrogacy has been the subject of scrutiny in Taiwan for more than 20 years, and has been seen during that entire time as an extremely controversial issue.

Any amendment made by the MOHW would need to make its way through the legislative process, but the first step is to get the process underway. The Department of Health was in place before the Ministry, and it used Article 7.5 of the Regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology to ban surrogacy. However, that wasn’t binding in any legal way, and it was abolished during the enactment of the Assisted Reproduction Act in 2007.

The new Act created article 11.1, which helps married couples with a diagnosis of infertility gain access to reproductive assistance. Couples who aren’t married are excluded, and the fertile spouse in a couple must be the one to provide oocytes or sperm. There can’t be any compensation offered to the person who provides the other half of the genetic material. The wife is also expected to carry in her uterus, so a “surrogate mother” is not a legally acceptable role.

If the wife can’t carry a fetus to term, the couple can’t use reproductive technology to start or grow their family. With the legality of same-sex marriage, a female couple can have a child through reproductive assistance, but a male couple cannot, because neither one of them has a uterus to carry their child. Still, using a surrogate isn’t completely illegal. There are only penalties for it if it’s done for profit.

If the MOHW manages to legalize surrogacy, the nature of parent-child relationships will be redefined and same-sex male couples will have more opportunities to have children that are biologically related to one of them. Allowing for compensation for surrogates could also mean more women willing to help couples have children, and protect surrogates with legal guidelines to ensure they’re treated fairly.

We aim to provide our clients with a straightforward breakdown of what might seem to be a complicated and daunting process so that they can enjoy the beautiful experience of bringing a child into the world through surrogacy. Contact us today to schedule a consultation!