A Dutch man who feels his age is holding him back in business and dating has launched a legal battle to be legally recognised as 20 years younger.
Emile Ratelband, was born on 11 March 1949, but because he feels he is being discriminated against by potential employers and on dating sites, he wants to change his date of birth to 11 March 1969.
The 69-year-old compared his desire to be recognised as 20 years younger to transsexuals who want to be recognised as having being born in the opposite sex.
Young on the inside
Ratelband told a court in Arnhem he did not feel “comfortable” with his date of birth, and that his official age does not reflect his emotional state.
He said: “When I’m 69, I am limited. If I‘m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work.
He added that he thought the age change would help him be more successful on dating app Tinder.
He added that his doctors had told him he has the body of a 45-year-old.
Transgenderism
Ratelband claimed it was “a question of free will”, while his lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers said it was high time for age-reversal to be recognised in law.
Kuijpers was asked if changing legal age should require health inspections to assess a person’s “emotional age”. He responded that “something like common sense” should play a part.
The judge agreed that because of pushes to recognise transgenderism, what was once a legal impossibility is now law.
When Ratelband announced he wanted to legally change his age, he said “thousands” of people on social media expressed their support, and that many will follow suit if the courts approve his request.
Transgenderism
In 2015, it was revealed that a 52-year-old Candian man with seven children had decided to identify as a six-year-old girl, and was living with his friends whom he referred to as his “adoptive mommy and daddy”.
He dresses as a child and plays with his friend’s grandchildren.
He said: “In my mind I was never allowed to be a little girl so I’m filling that tank of little girl experiences.”