Age cannot wither him — whatever a courtroom might rule.
Dutchman Emile Ratelband insists his quest to turn the clock forward on his birth certificate is not over, despite a judge on Monday dismissing his request to legally become a younger man.
The 69-year-old father-of-seven had applied to legally have two decades shaved off his age, comparing his request with those from people seeking to switch their gender.
The bizarre exercise was motivated by Ratelband’s desire to make himself more attractive to members of the opposite sex on Tinder and other dating apps. Being younger would also boost his job prospects, he argued.
But Judge M. Van der Linde at the Court of Gelderland in Arnhem, in the eastern Netherlands, ruled that the issue was not just one of identity but also the “rights and obligations” that are connected with age — such as the right to vote, marry, drink alcohol, and drive. Such limits would “lose their meaning,” if people were allowed to change their age at will, the court ruled. Read more
