The first terminally ill child euthanized in the Netherlands under the country’s controversial expansion of assisted-dying laws was a 1-year-old baby.
Dutch officials disclosed in June that a child had died by euthanasia the previous year, describing the case as the first assisted death involving someone younger than 12. At the time, authorities did not release details about the child’s sex, medical condition or age.
A newly published government report now says the child was born abroad at 26 weeks’ gestation, suffered sepsis and was diagnosed with “very extensive brain damage” at 4½ months old.
The child later developed severe cerebral palsy and, at 8 months, was diagnosed with infantile epileptic spasms syndrome, an especially severe form of epilepsy.
The condition caused a “severe sleeping disorder,” along with coughing fits and difficulty swallowing, according to the report.
“In the months prior to the child’s death, the seizures increased significantly when the child was eating,” said the report from the Assessment Committee for Late Termination of Pregnancy and Termination of Life in Newborns and Children Aged 1 to 12 Years.
“The extensive brain damage severely affected the child’s functioning.
“The child had very severe developmental delay; at the age of almost two years, the child’s developmental age was estimated to be that of a six-week-old baby.
“The child had multiple, very severe disabilities, both mental and physical, and the prognosis was that the child would be dependent on support with all activities of daily living for the rest of their life.”
The child also faced a “considerably higher risk” of respiratory infections. Doctors determined there was a very high likelihood the baby would die at a young age from related complications.
The Netherlands legalized euthanasia for severely ill children ages 1 to 12 in 2024, extending its assisted-dying framework to that age group.
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“Euthanasia is only allowed for patients whose unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement has a medical dimension,” the Dutch government says.
The review committee concluded that the physician complied with the law throughout the process.
Doctors determined there was a “realistic expectation” that the child’s condition would continue to worsen.
Before ending a patient’s life under the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act, physicians must assess the case against a six-point checklist.
That assessment includes determining that the patient is not being pressured and that the suffering is “unbearable with no prospect of improvement,” according to the government.
Doctors said they were “convinced that there was no reasonable way to reduce or end the child’s suffering other than by termination of the child’s life.”
The physician explained the procedure fully to the child’s parents and obtained their consent. The doctor also consulted at least one independent physician and was found to have exercised due care, leading the committee to rule the euthanasia lawful.
Physicians who carry out euthanasia unlawfully can face up to 12 years in prison, as well as a possible fine.
The Netherlands became the world’s first country to legalize euthanasia under strict conditions in 2002. Every euthanasia case must be reported to medical review boards.
Last year, 10,341 deaths by assisted suicide or euthanasia were reported in the Netherlands, according to the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees. This was a 3.8% rise compared to 2024.
The Netherlands isn’t the first country to allow doctor-assisted death for children of all ages. Belgium has allowed it since 2014.
Canada legalized the assisted suicide practice, medical assistance in dying, in 2016 and stats reveal that assisted suicide makes up more than one in 10 deaths in parts of the country.
