A 69-year-old Dutch man has failed in his attempt to legally declare himself 20 years younger.
Last month, motivational speaker Emile Ratelband filed a lawsuit against the Dutch government requesting that his date of birth be switched from March 11, 1949, to March 11, 1969.
On Monday, a court in the Netherlands city of Arnhem rejected his age-changing application, saying that while Ratelband “is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly,” actually changing the birth certificate is not possible.
“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,” the court said, according to the New York Post.
Ratelband initially wanted to drop two decades off his age in order to improve his chances on Tinder.
“I feel much younger than my age, I am a young god, I can have all the girls I want but not after I tell them that I am 69,” Ratelband told AFP. “I feel young, I am in great shape and I want this to be legally recognized because I feel abused, aggrieved and discriminated against because of my age.”
He compared his attempt to turn back the clock to identifying as transgender.
“We live in a time when you can change your name and change your gender. Why can’t I decide my own age?” he asked, according to the BBC.
In its ruling, the court said that the changes to the law that allow a person to change their gender took place after the issue was debated globally, and noted Ratelband is the only person advocating for legal age change, according to the BBC.
The court ruling said Ratelband had other legal means at his disposal if he truly felt he was a victim of age discrimination.
