Países Bajos aplica por primera vez la eutanasia a un niño de dos años a petición de sus padres

The Beoordelingscommissie LZA-LP&K approved the first case of euthanasia for a child between the ages of one and twelve. According to a ruling published on September 9, the procedure was carried out on a two-year-old child following a request from the parents.

The child was born at 26 weeks of pregnancy. A later examination showed extensive brain damage, and at eight months old, doctors diagnosed the child with infantile spasms. By nearly two years of age, the child's developmental age was estimated at six weeks, with no speech development and vision impairments that limited contact.

The attending physician sought two additional opinions from specialists outside the region. While all consulted doctors agreed the child's condition was irreversible and would not improve, they disagreed on the level of suffering. Some specialists argued the child was not suffering unbearably and that palliative care remained an option, while others agreed with the attending physician's assessment of continuous, unbearable suffering. Commission chair Polly van Dijk described the decision as extremely difficult for both the parents and the doctor.