In Pagliara dei Marsi, an ancient rural village on the slopes of Mount Girifalco in the Abruzzo region of Italy, cats outnumber the inhabitants.

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The reasons for this decline are many: job insecurity, mass emigration of young people, lack of support for working mothers and, as in other countries, rising male infertility. Furthermore, an increasing number of people are simply choosing not to have children.

The couple’s situation is unusual. Trabucco, a music teacher, was born in Frascati, near Rome, and worked in the capital for years before deciding to move to the village where her grandfather was born because she had always wanted to raise her family away from the chaos of the city. She met Bussi, a construction worker from the area, a few years ago.