A man tried to shave 20 years off his age because he said he felt like a much younger man.
Age is not just a number.
A Dutch court has rejected a 69-year-old man's plea to officially cut 20 years from his age, despite his assertion that he feels much younger than he really is.
"I look at my biological age, and my biological age is 40, 42," Emile Ratelband told Business Insider after filing suit in an Arnhem court seeking to change his age to 49.
He sought the change, he said, because of age discrimination. He claimed getting a mortgage was harder for senior citizens, as was finding a job.
The court ignored those reasons, saying it found "no scope in legislation or case law to allow such a ruling."
Ratelband "is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly," the court 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."
Ratelband said he plans to appeal the ruling.
RELATED STORIES
