Risa Sekine (関根りさ), a Japanese YouTuber with 1.25 million subscribers, announced on July 7, 2026 that she has given birth to her second child, about a year and a half after the death of her first son from a rare genetic disease.
In a video posted to YouTube and Instagram, Sekine and her husband, fellow YouTuber George, were shown sitting together on a beach holding a pineapple that represented their late son. Sekine explained that around two years earlier, the couple had undergone egg retrieval in Los Angeles and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, a screening process that checks embryos for specific inherited conditions before they are implanted. According to Sekine, the process identified an embryo that did not carry the gene linked to her son’s disease. “That embryo was born on Earth,” she wrote, referring to her newborn.
Sekine and George married in October 2020 and announced the birth of their first son in March 2022. In April 2024, Sekine revealed that her son had been diagnosed with junctional epidermolysis bullosa (接合部型表皮水疱症), a government-designated intractable disease that causes the skin to blister and tear from minor friction. In a video posted on December 31, 2024, she told followers that her son had died at 2 years, 7 months and 12 days old.
Speaking to the Japanese parenting outlet Tamahiyo, Sekine recalled that when her first son was born, his fingers and toenails appeared thin, and friction from diapers caused blisters on his skin. She said the first thing she noticed after her second child’s birth was again the baby’s nails. “They looked a little long and thin, so I worried for a moment, but everything was fine,” she said, adding that she now handles diaper changes with far more confidence than she did the first time.
The announcement drew a wave of supportive comments from fans, many writing that they “couldn’t stop crying” and were “truly happy” for the couple.
Who is Risa Sekine?
Risa Sekine (関根りさ) is a Japanese YouTuber with around 1.25 million subscribers, known for vlogs about her marriage and family life with fellow YouTuber George, whom she married in October 2020. The couple has documented major family milestones with their audience, including the birth of their first son in 2022, his diagnosis with a rare skin disease in 2024, and his death later that year, which Sekine shared with followers in an emotional year-end video.
