Taiwan's legislature extended joint adoption rights to same-sex couples on Tuesday, marking another milestone in marriage equality on the island.
The rights were an amendment to the same-sex marriage bill that passed its third reading in the Legislative Yuan without objection, according to local media reports.
The changes mean the process for joint adoption is the same for same-sex couples as it is for heterosexual couples under the island's civil code.
The island first legalised same-sex marriage in 2019 but advocates long pointed to adoption restrictions on same-sex couples as an example of changes that still needed to be made.
Under the previous rules, a partner in a same-sex union could only adopt if the child was biologically related to their spouse.
If the child was not the son or daughter of either partner, only one could become their legal guardian. As there were no restrictions on single individuals adopting, some same-sex couples would divorce in order to adopt, according to marriage equality advocates.
The amendment was spurred after a landmark 2021 court ruling in the southern city of Kaohsiung allowed a man to become the legal guardian of his husband's adopted daughter.
While that ruling was celebrated by LGBTQ advocates at the time, it only applied in that instance and similar cases by other couples were later struck down.
In a Twitter post celebrating the amendment's passage, Democratic Progressive Party legislator Hung Sun-han said it was the latest "puzzle piece" in extending human rights and equality to all.
"Although this is a difficult road, we are continuing to assemble the human rights puzzle piece by piece," he wrote.
Earlier this year, the Taiwanese government also lifted restrictions on transnational same-sex marriage, allowing Taiwanese residents to marry partners from jurisdictions such as Japan or Hong Kong that have not legalised same-sex marriage.
However, same-sex marriages between Taiwanese residents and those from mainland China remain prohibited.
Taiwan is the only jurisdiction in Asia to have legalised same-sex marriage.
Last year, Singapore lifted a long-standing colonial-era ban on gay sex, but also amended its constitution to prohibit marriage equality. That same year, a court in Japan upheld the country's ban on same-sex marriage as constitutional.
However, Thailand's Move Forward Party, which won a plurality of seats in this week's election, has promised to legalise same-sex marriage if it forms government. India's supreme court is also set to make a ruling on same sex-marriage this summer in a landmark case involving 18 couples.
Only 34 countries in the world recognise same-sex marriage, according to American-based LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign.