近年同性婚姻合法化與否,於各國引發討論。然不論同性婚姻是否合法化,不可否認者,由同性家庭扶養之子女正逐漸增加,例如美國社會學者估計美國約有兩百萬名未成年子女係由同性家庭扶養。雖然同性家庭之子女與異性家庭之子女生活無異,惟同性家庭之子女所受之保護仍較異性家庭之子女少,乃因許多之利益與保障係以子女之婚生性為前提,為突破此種困境,美國有同性家庭嘗試以收養,向法院聲請收養子女,建立法定親子關係。於我國亦面臨同樣之問題,為解決此問題,伴侶盟所提出之多元成家草案中,即包含同性家庭之子女收養。然我國於尚欠缺同性家庭收養子女之實證研究,逕開放同性收養是否妥適,值得討論。 我國法下,因同性伴侶無法締結婚姻關係,無法為共同收養或繼親收養,論理上僅得為單獨收養。如欲探討同庭家庭收養子女,須借鏡外國之立法例與法院判決,其中美國各州對於同性家庭之法律規範與法院判決不盡相同,且其同性伴侶爭取權益之發展甚為豐富,得作為於不同之立法模式下,同性戀者或同性伴侶得否收養子女之參考依據。因此,本文以美國法作為本論文論述與討論之主要參考依據。 本文對於同性家庭子女收養之研究,先以「傳統法下之子女收養」介紹我國與美國現行法下之收養型態、收養方式、收養要件與收養效力;其次,就美國同性婚姻與伴侶制度之現況、同性家庭之形成與其爭論為介紹,並說明美國同性家庭收養子女之法律條文與法院判決,以瞭解「美國同性家庭之子女收養」之情形;再者,就我國現行法之規定與社工人員訪視報告之評估項目為介紹,並以我國法院之判決,觀察法院如何審酌子女最佳利益與如何看待同性戀者與同性伴侶收養子女,以及介紹多元成家草案與其對於子女收養之規定,以瞭解「我國同性家庭子女收養之可行性」。 我國現行法因婚姻關係未與收養脫鉤,故無美國法院所承認之第二父母收養,然子女之幸福與利益不應繫諸於父母之婚姻狀況與父母之性傾向,或許我國得借鏡美國法院之判決,以同性戀者或同性伴侶與子女共同生活一段時間及其相處情形,判斷收養聲請是否符合子女最佳利益。惟囿於我國現行法之規定,以及社工人員所為之訪視報告品質,且法院對於同性戀者收養子女仍有疑慮的情形下,法律如逕規定同性家庭得收養子女,亦難以說服法院同性家庭收養子女,係符合子女最佳利益。因此,同性戀者與同性伴侶須更加努力證明,其收養子女乃符合子女最佳利益,並爭取社會認同,此時,收養與婚姻關係始有脫鉤之可能。
Whether same-sex marriage is recognized or not, children who are raised by same-sex families are increasing. An American sociologist estimated that about two millions children were raised by same-sex families. Although children’s living in same-sex families are not different with children’s living in opposite-sex families, it is no doubt that protection of the former children is less than the latter since legitimate child always obtains more benefits and protections. In order to get rid of the disvantages, same-sex families in US have successfully tried to let them be legitimate through the path of adoption. In addition to legalize marriages, the adoption can be survived without formal marriage in the second-parent doctrine. In Taiwan, the marriage is only legally allowed between man and women, the joint and step-parent adoptions are only allowed between them, too. Since the happiness and welfare of children for adoption should not be decided by their parents’ marriage and sexual orientation, we argue that what is the best interest of child indeed governed the final decision. Last year, Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights tried to provide the draft for diverse family formation, which including same-sex marriage and adoption issues, etc. Disregard of the details and defects of the draft, in discussing the possibility of same-sex adoption in Taiwan, the history, rule of laws, and court judgments of the US might be one of the proper way to examine if our society and legislation is ready to accept it. The study on same-sex adoption begins with introduction of “the traditional adoption” in both legal systems of Taiwan and US. Second, to understand “same-sex adoption in the US”, it is necessary to introduce the current status of same-sex marriage and partnership, the controversies, the rules of laws and court judgments for same-sex adoption in US. Third, to find out “the feasibility of same-sex adoption in Taiwan”, including but not limited to our regulation, past judgments, and the reports made by social workers. Fainally, to evaluate the best interest of child in related issues for possible method to adopt, it is found that there is still way to go since the existing regulations in Taiwan are not complete, the quality of evaluation reports is uneven, and the judges are still apprehensive for same-sex adoption.