Mother «hostile and disqualifying»: why the Court separated the 'family of the woods'

Teardrops, a final embrace with the mother, the exhaustion of one of the most tumultuous days in recent months. Then the wake-up and the return to the apparent calm of the family home that has welcomed them for over a hundred days.

But for the so-called “children of the woods”, the time has come to leave that community and be transferred elsewhere, away from the spotlight and from their mother, deemed by social workers to be “hostile and disqualifying”. This was determined by the Juvenile Court of L'Aquila, which in the last page of the order mandated the relocation of the minors.

The implementation of the measure, however, does not seem immediate or simple: the children are still in the facility, while the family's lawyers are preparing the appeal with a request for a stay. The measure, stated lawyer Danila Solinas, is “unacceptable” and “grossly erroneous”.

Meanwhile, the case fuels political debate. The Minister for Family, Eugenia Roccella, called the decision an “extreme measure”, echoing the observations made by the Children's Ombudsman: “There should have been an assessment before separating the children from their parents and not after.”

On the operational front, while the standoff continues between the defense team of the Anglo-Australian couple, the social services, and the juvenile judges, a new protected facility is being sought to accommodate the children.

However, the search encounters several obstacles: some communities wish to avoid media attention, while others are too far from the residence where Catherine and Nathan currently live, not far from the now-famous “house in the woods”, making meetings between parents and children complex.

In the courtyard of the family home, where the three minors have been living without their mother since yesterday, the accusations of lawyer Solinas still echo, according to whom the workers “kicked the mom out” despite the children's heartbreaking cries.

This morning, the father, Nathan, spent several hours with the children. Afterwards, there was a long video call with his wife Catherine, who was able to speak with the little ones: a conversation lasting almost an hour that the aunt, Rachel, described as “heart-wrenching.”

"My sister is in total shock, we are all in shock," the woman reported from the cottage where Catherine spent the day tidying up the house and taking care of the animals.

In front of reporters, the mother shielded herself behind a no comment, but her gaze betrayed the desire to express her frustration and to ask to have her children back. "We came here to support her, to be close to her," the sister added, who arrived from Australia with her mother about a month ago.

The tension is reportedly also testing the relationship between the spouses: yesterday, after the announcement of the order, the two reportedly had a heated confrontation, with Nathan repeatedly asking his wife to end the confrontational attitude with the social workers.

Meanwhile, outside the community, a candlelight vigil of solidarity took place. Stuffed animals and banners with the message: "Hands off the children. Shame" appeared on the guardrails in front of the entrance.

Shortly before, Nathan had left in his white car; seeing the signs, he instinctively waved, before returning to the "house in the woods", that "place of the heart" where it all began.