A doctor in the Netherlands recently murdered a toddler nearly two years old who had severe disabilities and was gravely ill, with the permission of his parents.
The official report identifies neither the doctor, child, sex, nor parents but describes the act as euthanasia. It states that the doctor and parents agreed to the “termination” due to the child’s unbearable suffering.
Though the incident occurred last year, the crime has only recently come to light. The doctor reported it to the Netherlands’ “Assessment Committee for Late Termination of Pregnancy and Termination of Life in Newborns and Children Aged 1 to 12 Years,” a panel that approves such acts—this time after the fact.
The child was born prematurely at 26 weeks and three days during the parents’ vacation abroad. The infant entered neonatal intensive care, suffering complications from extreme prematurity, including multiple infections with sepsis. By four and a half months of age, the child was transferred to the Netherlands. Medical imaging revealed extensive brain damage, including periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), which causes spastic cerebral palsy. There was also damage to the occipital cortex, leading to visual impairment and likely cerebral visual impairment (CVI).
At eight months, the child was diagnosed with infantile epileptic spasm syndrome, causing recurrent severe discomfort and developmental delays. Medication failed to stop seizures, disrupting sleep and resulting in a swallowing disorder that caused seizures during eating. The report states: “The extensive brain damage had severe consequences for the child’s functioning.” The child exhibited very severe developmental delay with an estimated age of six weeks at nearly two years old, no verbal development, and minimal communication due to CVI. The child was severely intellectually and motorically disabled, requiring lifelong care.
Complications included sputum clearance issues, shortness of breath, scoliosis, and an unsafe swallowing pattern that increased the risk of aspiration pneumonia. Medical professionals determined the likelihood of death from complications was very high—a condition the child would have faced even without the act.
The parents sought euthanasia after consulting multiple physicians who concluded the child had an “irreversible situation” but noted there was no continuous unbearable suffering. Palliative care was also deemed a potential option to reduce seizures. During discussions, the doctor stated that the child’s suffering did not stem solely from epilepsy and that it represented unbearable, hopeless suffering even with controlled seizures. After medication side effects worsened symptoms, treatment was discontinued. The doctor then consulted another physician who confirmed the suffering was “unbearable.”
The doctor administered sedation via intravenous midazolam and morphine, followed by coma-inducing agents (propofol and thiopental), resulting in the child’s death. Later, the doctor spoke publicly about the case, describing his sense of vulnerability as he had never faced such a scenario before. He expressed concern that parents who have not previously considered ending their children’s lives might now feel supported by such cases. The doctor warned that killing infants with disabilities could represent “emancipation” for the child—a phrase linked to historical atrocities in Nazi Germany, where individuals were classified as “life unworthy of life.”
The campaign to end the lives of disabled children began in 1939 when parents sought permission at Hitler’s Chancellery.