Lawmakers advocate expanding assisted reproduction

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) Two legislators of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged the government Wednesday to submit bills that would extend the use of assisted reproduction to single women and same-sex female couples and promote gender equality education.

At a news conference marking the sixth anniversary of the passage of same-sex marriage legislation in Taiwan, DPP lawmaker Huang Jie (黃捷) said 12,683 same-sex couples have registered marriages over the past six years, but that enacting the law was only a starting point.

She hoped that restrictions on transnational same-sex marriages could be eased and the adoption system could be improved, while also advocating amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act that would extend assisted reproduction to single women and same-sex female couples.

At present, only married heterosexual couples are allowed to pursue assisted reproduction, including artificial insemination, under Taiwanese law, and Huang urged the Cabinet and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to submit amendments that would change the status quo.

Doing so would allow more single women and lesbians to benefit and have children while they still can, Huang said.

Huang noted that her advocacy of amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act would not include surrogacy issues, which have proven to be highly controversial in debates on amending the act.

She also indicated much more needed to be done to promote gender equality education.

At the same event, DPP legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) also expressed hope that draft amendments on extending assisted reproduction the MOHW previously agreed to will soon be put on the Legislative Yuan's agenda.

Wong Yu-cin (翁鈺清), the Taiwan Equality Campaign's advocacy and civic engagement project manager, said the government's stance on amending the law has been inconsistent.

She cited polls showing that support for lesbians using artificial reproduction dropped from 61.4 percent in 2024 to 57.7 percent more recently, indicating that the public is perplexed by delays in pushing the policy forward.

As such, Wong also urged the government to submit draft amendments on the issue as soon as possible to give the best gift to women who want to have children.