A 69-year-old TV personality in the Netherlands has asked a court to let him pick a new birthday that would legally make him 49.
Emile Ratelband, a self-declared positivity guru, thinks age is just a number, and he wants his changed to avoid age discrimination in society — especially on dating websites.
Ratelband says his legal quest is consistent with other recently accepted and government-recognized personal transformations, such as choice of name, race and gender.
He claims he'd be rejected for a mortgage because of his actual age. And on dating sites such as Tinder, he'd only get attention from older women.
"I don't want to lie," he says. "I want to be myself, so don't force me to lie."
Ratelband says the Dutch government would benefit if his age were to change. He would give up his monthly pension of about $1,300, he says. And that would save the retirement fund about $343,000 over the 20 years he wants shaved off his age.
The court is expected to issue a ruling in about a month.