A Dutch court has rejected an attempt by a 69 year old man to reduce his age by 20 years to align with the age he feels he is rather than his birth-age. The man wanted to make the change to enhance his prospects in life and love. In an unprecedented case, the Arnhem District Court told “positivity guru” Emile Ratelband it will not adhere to his request to shift his birth date two decades later to 11 March 1969.

“Mr Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly,” the judges said.

“But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships,” adding that “this would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications”.