The Netherlands has confirmed details of the first child euthanised under its expanded 2024 law allowing doctors to end the life of terminally ill children aged 1 to 12. A government review committee said the child was nearly 24 months old when a physician ended their life in late 2025. The child was born at 26 weeks with extensive brain damage and developed sepsis, cerebral palsy and West syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. The committee said there was “a complete lack of development or improvement” despite all medical interventions, and that parents and physicians were convinced the child was suffering unbearably. Health Minister Sophie Hermans first disclosed the case in June 2026. The law permits termination of life only when suffering is unbearable, with no prospect of improvement and no reasonable treatment available. Context: The Netherlands was the first country to legalise euthanasia for adults in 2001; the child-euthanasia rules remain controversial.