In contrast to adults, children younger than 18 years of age are not considered to be legally competent and usually are not considered to be capable of giving fully reasoned consent. Therefore, in most cases parents and healthcare providers make healthcare decisions for chil¬dren without the child’s consent. Instead of giving con¬sent, a child is asked to assent, that is to freely express an opinion in favor of a treatment. The child’s assent about end-of-life care is deeply affected by the child’s de¬velopmental and chronological age, since young children have limited understandings of illness and death.