Emile Ratelband, a 69-year-old motivational speaker from the Netherlands, has petitioned a court for permission to change his legal age by altering his birth certificate to show he was born 20 years later than he really was.
Ratelband argues that he feels two decades younger than he actually is doctors told him he has the body of a younger man, he says, and while in most cases that compliment is rhetorical, Ratelband is taking a more literal approach. He also says having a younger age on paper would give him a boost in life, and on dating apps.
He presented his argument before a judge on Monday.
According to the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, or AD, Ratelband told the court he would be happy to delay his pension benefits for 20 years, as a logical extension of his age change.
The judge expressed some skepticism but also noted that changing the sex on a birth certificate, as transgender people have the right to do, once was impossible and is now allowed.
Transgender people across the world have fought long legal battles for the right to change their birth certificates to match their gender identity. Where that is permitted, the legal requirements vary; in the Netherlands, transgender people need a statement from an expert affirming that they have a "permanent conviction" that their gender does not match what is on their birth certificates, and that they understand the repercussions of their decision.
Ratelband gave an interview to AD explaining his logic for changing his age.
"When I'm 69, I am limited. If I'm 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car," he said, according to a translation by The Guardian. "I can take up more work. When I'm on Tinder and it says I'm 69, I don't get an answer. When I'm 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position."