Emile Ratelband, 69, argued that his age was causing him to struggle to find work and love

A Dutch court has rejected the request of a self-styled “positivity guru” to shave 20 years off his age, in a case that drew worldwide attention.

Last month Emile Ratelband asked the court in Arnhem to formally change his date of birth to make him 49. He said his official age did not reflect his emotional state and it was causing him to struggle to find work and love.

He claimed he did not feel 69 and said his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation gaining acceptance around the world, such as the right to change name or gender.

In a written ruling on Monday, the court said Dutch law assigned rights and obligations based on age “such as the right to vote and the duty to attend school. If Mr Ratelband’s request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.”

In a press statement, the court said: “Mr Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly. But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships. This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications.”

The court said it acknowledged “a trend in society for people to feel fit and healthy for longer, but did not regard that as a valid argument for amending a person’s date of birth”.

It said Ratelband failed to convince the court that he suffered from age discrimination, adding that “there are other alternatives available for challenging age discrimination, rather than amending a person’s date of birth”.

Ratelband was undeterred by the court’s rejection and vowed to appeal. “This is great!” he said. “The rejection of {the] court is great … because they give all kinds of angles where we can connect when we go in appeal.”

He said he was the first of “thousands of people who want to change their age”.