Requests for euthanasia as a couple increase in the Netherlands. In 2022, 29 couples were performed: 58 people, according to the annual report published by the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees.

The majority of patients – almost 60% – had cancer. The moral evil of not wanting to stay alone in very close couples is a fact, but it is not decisive, says Sander de Hosson, lung specialist and author of two books on palliative care. In euthanasia for a single person, one doctor treats the patient with the help of another.