Facts
On March 14, 1983, Y. gave birth to her daughter X. No parent-child relationship was established with the biological father. In 1985, Y. married Z., and with the adoption decision of November 7, 1988, X. was declared the adoptive daughter of Z. In 1996, the marriage between Y. and Z. was divorced, and X. came under the parental care of the mother. In November 2007, X. made contact with her biological father V.
On August 14, 2008, X. initiated a lawsuit against her mother and Z. to challenge her adoption. On January 19, 2009, the presiding judge approved a settlement, according to which the parent-child relationship between X. and Z. was retroactively terminated. However, the High Court overturned this decision and instructed X. to file her challenge to the adoption again.
With a challenge filed on November 10, 2009, X. appealed to the High Court and requested that the adoption decision of November 7, 1988 and the parent-child relationship between her and Z. be retroactively annulled. However, the High Court dismissed the lawsuit.
Considerations
The Federal Court dismisses X.'s appeal. The adoption can only be annulled through a challenge or a new adoption. The grounds for a challenge are only those under Art. 269 and Art. 269a of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB).
According to Art. 269 para. 1 ZGB, the lack of the legally required consent to the adoption constitutes a ground for challenge. Since the parent-child relationship with the biological father did not exist at the time of the adoption, he had no right of consent. However, X. does not claim that the consent was disregarded.
Apart from the lack of consent, the adoption can only be challenged if it suffers from a…