Shattered families, lost children and the dark legacy of Greenland's colonial past

Trump's threat to 'take over' Greenland for its strategic location and minerals has forced Denmark into defensive mode with an apology for its treatment of the islanders. But for many the agony continues.

- Isabel Coles reports from Nuuk

Six months into Johanne Geisler's pregnancy, a psychologist came to her home in central Denmark to test if she was capable of being a good parent.

Geisler, who had moved from her native Greenland several years earlier, was nervous as she led the psychologist into the living room. The assessment would determine whether she could keep her unborn baby.

"What's the opposite of rain?" the psychologist asked, according to Geisler. The question threw her.

Greenlandic was her first language, but the psychologist had refused her request for an interpreter, saying her Danish was good enough. Still, she struggled to understand and grew increasingly anxious. "I was telling her I am doing my best because this is my second language," she said.

Over 10 days towards the end of 2019, Geisler underwent a series of examinations including Rorschach and IQ tests, as well as being observed while having dinner with her husband and his grandson. The psychometric tests were part of a parental competency test or forældrekompetenceundersøgelse, known as FKU.

Danish social services had previously placed two of Geisler's children in foster care after she failed an FKU. Someone had informed the local authorities that Geisler and her husband, Ulrik Olsen, were drinking and mistreating their children, which she denies. The move to Denmark was challenging, she admits, but by the time she became pregnant again in 2019, she had settled.

However, a psychologist was sent to determine whether their parenting skills were "permanently impaired". The FKU found that caring for a child was too big a responsibility for Geisler and her husband. "We never stood a chance," she said at her home.