Facts
[A.] and [B.] entered into a registered partnership in 2015. [B.] gave birth to three children (C., D. and E.) in 2016 and 2017 following medically assisted procreation procedures carried out abroad. The parties separated in 2018 and since then, [A.] has no longer seen the children.
[A.] requested a right to personal relations with the three children. The Adult and Child Protection Court of the Canton of Geneva rejected the request, but the evaluation and support service for parental separation recommended the establishment of a right to personal relations between [A.] and the children. The Court of First Instance of Geneva finally granted [A.] a right to personal relations for one hour every two weeks, in a therapeutic setting.
[B.] appealed against this decision, which was upheld by the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva. [A.] then filed an appeal with the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
According to Article 274a of the Swiss Civil Code, in exceptional circumstances, the right to maintain personal relations may be granted to third parties, in particular to members of the family, provided that it is in the interest of the child. This provision is intended in particular to cover the right that grandparents of the child may claim, but the circle of third parties concerned is broader and extends both within the child's family sphere and outside it.
The granting of a right to personal relations to third parties first requires the existence of exceptional circumstances, such as the particularly close relationship that third parties have developed with the child or the void to be filled during the prolonged absence of one of the parents. The second condition is the interest of the child, which must be decisive.
When the child was conceived as part of a common parental project with…