The self-described idyllic life of a family of five living in an Italian forest with horses, donkeys and chickens has stalled after a court ordered the children be removed and placed in foster care.
Patrol cars were dispatched to remove the children from their home in Abruzzo to a church-run care facility. The mother is staying at the same premise but the parents have limited access to the children, their family lawyer said.
The fate of the children, known in Italian as the Bimbi nel Bosco or kids in the woods, has captivated the country. Tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition to reunite the family.
The parents, Nathan Trevallion, a 51-year-old British former professional chef, and Catherine Birmingham, a 45-year-old Australian life coach and former equestrian trainer, were named in an order issued by a L’Aquila court as parents of the children – one eight-year-old and six-year-old twins.
“The family unit lives in housing hardship as the building has not been declared habitable,” the order states. “The members of the Trevallion family have no social interaction, no fixed income, the home has no toilet facilities, and the children do not attend school. The order is based on the risk of violating the right to social life in consideration of the serious and harmful violations of the children’s rights to physical and mental integrity the parents should be suspended from parental responsibility.”
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