I’m American, my husband is Taiwanese. My son, five months old now, is Taiwanese, on the household registration list. He will be American, too, if I ever get his paperwork done!
I didn’t want him to be on the household registration because I didn’t want him to face service in a military of a country where he will likely not live after he’s five. We plan to move to the States and raise him there. I felt it would be cruel for him to face service in a country where he didn’t grow up. But we were informed by many sources that he must be registered here, since he was born here. No choice. I don’t know that the same goes for girls, as I have a friend who had a girl here who is not a Taiwanese citizen.
To us anyway, this is a serious issue but we have no choice other than to see what life has in store. My son will likely have to deside one day if it’s worth it to go “home” to his place of birth. There are reasons, like family or property managment, that I can immagine would make things difficult for him. I wish there were a fair and clear policy for dealing with this.
And simply comming on a USA passport and then leaving in a couple of months doesn’t safeguard him from conscription. In the case that he’s conscripted while here on a visitation, he then is forced to serve in the armed forces of a country where he can’t vote, since if he’s here on and American passport he’s considered an American. Lotts of loopholes to get hung by!
Other than this, my husband and I found the health care services where we delivered my son to be dispicable. My son suffered a birth injury that was due to gross neglance and prejudice of the staff and my dr. Absolutly horrible attitude and “care.” If I ever have another one I dearly hope to be almost anywhere else. At first we were glad not to be in the States for his birth because Taiwan, with it’s "first rate health care was so much cheaper. Then we found out how right we were. Plain Cheap !