Feature: New website helps separated couples in Italy to co-parent better

For the first time in Italy, separated mothers and fathers can count on an innovative tool to better co-parent their children and efficiently manage family duties.

A website named "2houses.com" recently launched its Italian version to help parents communicate and get a handle on their children's affairs after their life together has come to an end.

The portal with its associated apps was created in 2011 in Belgium, and soon spread around the world in English and French language versions.

The site's tools allow parents to share information and data about their children's schedule and expenses, school and after-school activities, and many other related issues, through both the web platform and mobile apps.

Over 58,000 families in 117 countries have so far used it, according to the site, and now scores of Italians might add to the figure, if initial reactions from the people and the increasing divorce trend in the country are any indication.

"Indeed, it could be a useful thing," Elisabetta Zen from Alessandria, Northern Italy, told Xinhua.

"Especially when separated parents share the custody of their children, such a tool might help them to communicate better, and thus manage common responsibilities smoothly," the divorced woman, 49, and mother-of-three, added.

According to Zen, it would be an innovative way for couples who had split up to keep organizing common tasks, and would also possibly prevent parents from constantly talking to each other about the children on the phone, "which is often stressful for two people who have separated."

However, not even such a modern communication style could be of help if parents were unwilling to cooperate, the woman stressed.

"In my opinion, the limit of such a system is that it would work well for split partners who maintain a good relationship. That is to say, those who have passed the first and most troubled phase of the separation," Zen explained.

The idea of bringing "2houses.com" to Italy came to a separated dad and marketing expert living in Turin who knew about the original Belgian website and found it useful, La Stampa newspaper reported.

The man sought the help of creative and social media consultant Giuditta Pasotto, who had already launched the "Gengle.it" platform for Italian single parents that numbers some 10,000 subscribers.

Such initiatives were already quite common elsewhere in Europe and the United States, but were very new for Italy, and the co-parenting portal was the first of its kind in the country.

"I am not really fond of smartphones or computers, but I think I will take a glimpse at the website because it sounds interesting," Paola Marta from Rome told Xinhua.

The 37-year-old mother of two separated from her partner last year, and said her life was still entangled in frequent bickering with her former partner over "who has to do what" about their children.

The couple agreed to joint custody, and Marta acknowledged they were both trying to remain cooperative with each other, but tension would often prevail.

"Reorganizing our life after nine years together is not easy, considering the children are still of school age and we are both full-time workers," she explained.

"If I had a way to share all the things that have to be said and done about them, without daily direct contact with my ex partner ... That would not be the end of all problems, but it might help both of us to defuse potentially stressful situations."

Indeed, the tools offered on "2houses" seemed conceived to prevent misunderstanding among parents who have split up, or at least reduce it.

The most basic tool is an interactive diary allowing parents to share the children's tasks and activities, in order to be constantly updated and not to miss arranged duties. There is a calendar to organize the shared custody, and a system to manage all expenses related to the children's needs.

A database also allows parents quick access to useful information related to the children, such as medical data, phone numbers of doctors, teachers, or a list of the children's friends.

Plus, an interactive journal would make it easier to share pictures, videos, and messages, which might seem less urgent but is nonetheless important in a family that does not live together anymore.

Relationship break-ups are becoming more frequent in Italy, a country where marriages have been decreasing and divorces on the rise in the last decade.

Some 189,765 unions were celebrated in 2014, a 2.3 percent and 8.4 percent decrease compared to 2013 and 2012, according the Italian Institute for Statistics (ISTAT).

Meanwhile, 52,335 couples got divorced and 89,303 legally separated last year, ISTAT said.

Couples with children made up 65.4 percent and 76.2 percent of the cases, respectively, and 89.4 percent of them agreed to shared custody. Endit