A doctor in the Netherlands euthanized a toddler in what officials said is the country's first case involving a child under 12, and a government-appointed review panel concluded the physician acted "with due care."
The child, who was nearly 2 years old and suffering from severe medical conditions, died at the end of 2025, with details only becoming public this month after the supervising committee issued its finding.
The child was born at 26 weeks, suffered brain damage, and was later diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy and a severe form of infant epilepsy, according to the report. The child's parents requested termination of life after the attending physician concluded the child's suffering was unbearable and without hope of improvement.
Independent doctors first consulted in the case concluded the child was not in continuous unbearable suffering and that reasonable alternatives still existed. Rather than stopping there, the attending physician sought another opinion, and a second doctor signed off. The first consultants said palliative options and different medication might improve control of the child's epileptic seizures. The official report did not say death was imminent; it said the child's life expectancy was shortened and depended on potentially life-threatening complications.
Until 2024, Dutch rules covered termination of life for newborns and separate euthanasia requests from minors age 12 and older. A special regulation that took effect in 2024 created a framework for termination of life in ch
