Married Couple In Their 70s Who First Met In Kindergarten Die Together from Duo-Euthanasia

The Netherlands couple shared their reasons behind the decision, before their son details the "very strange" last full day together and his "difficult" final moments with his parents as they were administered lethal medication.

After a lifetime together, Netherlands couple Jan Farber, 70, and wife Els van Leeningen, 71, decided to end their lives together as well. The two opened up about their decision to undergo duo-euthanasia for BBC's new documentary Loving, Living and Dying Together , before their deaths a month ago on June 3, 2024.

The couple, from Fireisland, met when they were in kindergarten and were married for nearly five decades before making the decision to end things, in a county where euthanasia and assisted suicide have been legal since the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act went into effect in April 2002.

For Jan, he began struggling to back pain 1999, which wasn't alleviated at all by surgery in 2003. Per BBC, he could no longer work and began telling his family "he didn't want to live too long with his physical limitations."

In 2018, his wife then began to display early signs of dementia and was officially diagnosed with it in 2022. Upon learning her condition would only get worse over time, the couple began talking about duo-euthanasia more seriously with their son.

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"This is very good," Els told BBC, pointing at her body, before pointing to her head and adding, "But this is terrible."

"If you take a lot of medicine, you live like a zombie," added Jans. "So, with the pain I have, and Els' illness, I think we have to stop this. I've lived my life, I don't want pain anymore. The life we've lived, we're getting old [for it]. We think it has to be stopped."

Els' general practitioner, however, was reportedly against performing euthanasia on a patient with dementia -- so the pair then reached out to a mobile clinic, the Centre of Expertise on Euthanasia, for the procedure. The BBC noted that cases of duo-euthanasia can be tricky, as doctors have to determine if both parties are totally on board, or whether one partner is influencing the other to end their life.

Doctors did allegedly determine Els had the mental capacity to decide whether she wanted to die when she made the choice, but the couple's son -- who wasn't named -- still had some reservations about the whole situation.

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"You don't want to let your parents die," Jan told the outlet. "So there have been tears - our son said, 'Better times will come, better weather' - but not for me."

Their son also recalled the last full day he, his parents and their grandchildren spent together before their deaths.

"I went for a walk on the beach with my mum. The kids were playing, there were some jokes. It was a very strange day," he shared. "I remember we were having dinner in the evening, and I got tears in my eyes just watching us all having that final dinner together."

The next morning, the couple, their son, his wife and some of the duo's friends all went to a local hospice, where they were given lethal medication.

"We had two hours together, before the doctors came," shared their son. "We spoke about our memories. And we listened to music. The final half hour was difficult. The doctors arrived and everything happened quickly - they follow their routine, and then it's just a matter of minutes."

Loving, Loving and Dying Together is available now on BBC Sounds.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress.