A two-year-old child has died by euthanasia in the Netherlands, the first case of a non-infant child under 12 dying by euthanasia, despite independent doctors initially concluding that the child was “not continuously suffering unbearably” and that reasonable alternatives remained.
The child died by euthanasia at the end of 2025, which was revealed by a letter to the Dutch parliament from Health Minister Sophie Hermans in June. Infant euthanasia has been practised in the Netherlands for many years, as before a recent law change, only newborns and children over twelve could die by euthanasia. However, this was the first time that a non-infant child under the age of 12 had died by euthanasia in the country.
Before the child’s life was ended, the doctor consulted independent doctors from outside his region of practice.
These other doctors concluded that “the child was not continuously suffering unbearably”, according to the Review Committee on Late-term Abortions and Termination of Life of Neonates and Children aged under 12.
The Review Committee revealed that the other doctors believed “there were still reasonable alternatives, such as palliative options and other medications that could possibly result in better control of the epileptic seizures”.
Despite this, the child was later euthanised after the doctor sought a further second opinion from another doctor, who concluded that the requirements for ending the child’s life through euthanasia had been met.
The Review Committee later found that the doctor had complied with the applicable due-care requirements.
Two-year-old suffered from cerebral palsy and epilepsy
New information, reported by the NL Times, has revealed that the child had been born prematurely, at only 26 weeks gestation, and had cerebral palsy and a visual impairment resulting from a brain injury. The child also had epilepsy, which largely did not respond to medication, and mucus in their lungs, which made breathing and swallowing difficult.
The euthanising doctor believed that this meant the child would not live into adulthood, and that their suffering could not be alleviated through medical treatment.
Netherlands widened rules to allow children aged between one and 12 to die by euthanasia in 2024
In February 2024, the Netherlands widened its regulations, allowing euthanasia for children of all ages.
Under the widened Dutch rules, doctors can end the lives of terminally ill children aged one to 12 if they are considered to be suffering unbearably with no prospect of improvement and no reasonable alternative to relieve their suffering. The decision is made by a doctor together with the child’s parents and, where possible, in consultation with the child.
For the euthanasia to be legitimate, the doctor is required, on the basis of prevailing medical opinion, to confirm that ending the child’s life is the only reasonable way to end their unbearable suffering, without there being any prospect of improvement.
Prior to the widening of eligibility criteria, euthanasia was already available for Dutch citizens who are not terminally ill but suffering from “normal degenerative conditions that accompany ageing” that can be considered to cause “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement”. Euthanasia was also permitted for babies under one year old thought to be suffering unbearably and children aged 12 to 15 with parental consent.
This marks the first death by euthanasia for a non-infant child under the age of 12 following the Netherlands’ widening of these regulations. The country became the second in the world to allow euthanasia for children of all ages, following Belgium, which lifted the age restrictions for euthanasia in 2014.
Law expansion of this kind would have been likely if assisted suicide Bill had passed, critics warn
Reacting to the news that the first non-infant child under 12 had died by euthanasia in the Netherlands following the expansion of the law, commentator Adam James Pollock reflected that it would have been “inevitable” that there would have been campaigns for the assisted suicide law in Britain to expand, too, had MPs not voted to reject the assisted suicide Bill on 11 September.
“Assisted suicide lobby group My Death, My Decision plainly states on its website that those in the organisation ‘do not believe that there is a strong moral case to limit this option solely to those with six months left to live’, arguing that ‘life expectancy in and of itself says nothing’ about the extent of an individual’s suffering”, he said.
Pollock added, “Humanists UK, another prominent lobby group, responded to the introduction of [Kim] Leadbeater’s bill by arguing that an assisted suicide law should also be for ‘those who are suffering intolerably from incurable conditions which may not be terminal’”.
Responding to the Dutch child euthanasia case, prominent opponent of the Westminster legislation, Lord Alton, said, “You start with a little euthanasia and this is where it inevitably leads. Make it legal and it simply becomes another ‘option.’”
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is very sad to hear of the tragedy that occurred in the Netherlands, whereby a young child had their life ended by euthanasia. A hastened death is not the solution for those suffering from illness, regardless of age”.
“This is precisely the kind of expansion in the law that critics of the assisted suicide Bill for England and Wales warned about. We are grateful to MPs for voting against the assisted suicide Bill and ensuring that tragedies of this nature could not happen here”.
