Italian couple living off-grid in forest regain custody of their children under social-services supervision

An Australian-British couple living in a forest home in Italy’s Abruzzo region can begin bringing their three children back under a court-approved reunification plan supervised by social services. The children, an eight-year-old girl and six-year-old twins, entered foster care in November 2025 after a juvenile court decision.

The court in L’Aquila approved a reunification process "in stages," the couple’s lawyer said. Catherine Birmingham, a 45-year-old Australian personal-development coach, and Nathan Trevillon, a 51-year-old Briton, moved near the village of Palmoli in 2021. They sought a life they described as "stress-free" and in harmony with nature, living among animals and relying on solar panels for their only energy source. They used outdoor dry toilets, and their children were neither vaccinated nor enrolled in school.

According to La Repubblica, public authorities offered the family housing, but the parents soon rejected the apartment. They reportedly feared drinking water treated with chlorine and believed connecting to the electricity grid would make them complicit in expanding the hole in the ozone layer. The family had remained outside the authorities’ attention until September 2024, when all five members were hospitalized by helicopter after eating poisonous mushrooms.

At the hospital, the parents refused permission for a nasal tube to be placed in one child, prompting medical staff to alert social services. Fact-checking website Pagella Politica reported that the couple allegedly conditioned vaccination on a payment of €50,000 per child. The children were removed in November 2025. Their mother initially lived with them, but authorities excluded her in April after what they described as hostile behavior toward educators. Since then, the parents have seen the children through video calls and supervised appointments. Italy’s right has used the widely publicized case to criticize what it calls administrative and judicial interference in private family life.