69-Year-Old Dutch DJ Tries to Legally Change Age to 49 for Tinder Purposes (UPDATE)

There has to be an easier way.

emile ratelband
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emile ratelband

UPDATED 12/3/18 5:45 p.m. ET: In a statement Monday (Dec. 3), a court in Arnhem, Netherlands said the Dutch DJ will not receive his request to legally change his age. "Mr. Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly," the court said, according to the New York Post. "But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships. This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications."

"There are other alternatives available for challenging age discrimination, rather than amending a person’s date of birth," the court added. 

For what it's worth, Ratelband doesn't sound all that defeated over the decision. “This is great!” he explained. “The rejection of [the] court is great… because they give all kinds of angles where we can connect when we go in appeal.”

Guess that's one way to look at it...

See below for original story published on 11/8/18.

A Dutch DJ is attempting to legally change his age in order to do better on Tinder. According to The Guardian, Emile Ratelband has started a legal case to lower his age from 69 to 49 years old. 

Though the entire internet would tell Ratelbund that he's officially the nicest age, the "positivity guru" says that it's hindering his dating life.

“When I’m on Tinder and it says I’m 69, I don’t get an answer,” Ratelband said. “When I’m 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.”

Ratelband cited doctors who claimed he had the health of a younger man and described himself as a "young god" in court.  As such, he wants to change his date of birth from March 11, 1949 to March 11, 1969.

The court was highly skeptical of Ratelband's case and his argument that changing his legal age was no different than a transgender person legally changing their gender. The judge told Ratelband if he took 20 years off of his life, he was effectively removing his own childhood. He asked how Ratelband's parents would feel about the erasure. 

“For whom did your parents care? Who was that little boy then?” he asked.

Ratelband countered that it did not matter because both of his parents were dead (as you might expect of a 69-year-old man). Ratelband also told the court that he was willing to give up his right to an old-age pension, just to avoid problems with future petitioners who might seek to game the system.   

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