Dutchman, 69, applies to legally reduce age by 20 years to find more women on Tinder

Dutchman, 69, applies to legally reduce age by 20 years to find more women on Tinder
Copyright Facebook/Emile Ratelband
By Emma Beswick
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"I try to get a mortgage, it's impossible. If I put my age on Tinder, women say 'you're much too old'," Emile Ratelband told Euronews.

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Dutchman Emile Ratelband is on a mission to legally reduce his age from 69 to 49 to boost his profile on the dating application Tinder.

The motivational speaker thinks if you can change your name or gender, you should be able to modify your age too. And he identifies as 49. 

"I try to get a mortgage, it's impossible. If I want to renew my driving licence at 69, it's difficult. If I put my age on Tinder, women say 'you're much too old'," he told Euronews.

"I feel much younger than my real age," he added, "as do a lot of people."

Ratelband even claims his doctor told him he had the body of someone more than 20 years younger.

He thinks citizens should be given more freedom to make their own choices, like when they stop working or driving and not be forced to slow down.

The Dutchman also said he doesn't want to lie about his age on Tinder when trying to meet women and officially having it reduced by 20 years would solve this problem.

Another motivation for changing his age is the fact that the father of seven has another two children on the way, both by surrogates.

"I don't want my kids to be embarrassed by me when I take them to the school gates and I'm 85," he added.

Ratelband has already taken legal action against his local authority when it refused to accept his new age — he will get the result in four weeks.

Ratelband said during the prosecutor told him "we need to know your biological age to control you", which he said is "exactly the problem".

Such is the sexagenarian's belief in his cause, that he said he is willing to take it to the highest courts in Europe.

"I'm so convinced of myself and my reasons are well thought out," he said. "If I have to go to the EU court, I will."

He says people have contacted him to express their support and to say they have been discriminated against because of their age.

The Dutch government pushed back the age when citizens are eligible to start receiving their pension in the country from 65 in 2015 to 66 in 2018.

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