The fate of a British-Australian “forest family” who lived off-grid in a remote house in the woods has moved many people in Italy in the run-up to Christmas.

Last month a juvenile court in Italy ruled the three children of former Melbourne woman Catherine Birmingham and her British husband Nathan Trevallion should be placed in protective care.

The family had been living in woodlands in Italy’s Abruzzo region. They came to the attention of authorities last year when they were hospitalised after eating poisonous mushrooms.

Italian authorities temporarily withdrew custody of the three children – an eight-year-old girl and six-year-old twin boys – from Birmingham and Trevallion due to their living conditions in the forest, and put them in a home.

The family’s lawyers said it was up to the juvenile court to decide if the family could celebrate Christmas together in their house in the Abruzzo woods, east of Rome.

While in care, the children saw electric light switches and a shower for the first time, according to media reports.

Their parents had consciously chosen to live in very simple conditions in a stone house in the forest without running water or electricity.

Birmingham is reportedly a life coach and former horse riding teacher from Melbourne. She bought the house in 2021 with Trevallion, a former chef from Bristol.

The couple defended their lifestyle as “one without stress” and told Italy’s public broadcaster Rai their children were “growing up better”.

“The children are happy, healthy. We haven’t done anything wrong if we want to return to nature,” Birmingham said in October.

Last month, Trevallion, 51, told local newspaper Il Centro that having the children taken away was “the worst night of my life”.

“Taking children away from a parent is the greatest pain there is … it’s an injustice,” he said.

The couple has since failed in their appeal against the decision by the juvenile court in L’Aquila to take the three children into care.

Social services had deemed the situation in the forest unsuitable for the children, given the unhygienic conditions. They also attested to their social isolation, given that the children didn’t go to school.

“The members of the Trevallion family have no social interactions, no steady income,” the court said in its written ruling.

“There are no sanitary facilities in the dwelling and the children do not attend school.”

Birmingham, 45, sees the children every day and Trevallion is allowed to visit them regularly, according to media reports.

The family’s lawyers are hoping they will soon be reunited, as Birmingham and Trevallion have signalled their willingness to co-operate with the authorities and social services.

-with AAP