FLORIANÓPOLIS, State of Santa Catarina — A Minnesota couple caught in a bureaucratic nightmare just to bring their baby home – finally has some good news.
Chris and Cheri Phillips’ son Greyson was born very prematurely on March 12 while the couple was visiting Brazil. Ever since they’ve been trapped in legal limbo trying to get him a U.S. passport to return home.
Thursday, they learned they would finally be able to get the documents they needed.
The Phillips went to Florianopolis, Brazil in February to celebrate Chris’ daughter Melory’s birthday. Melory lives in Brazil with her mother.
Cheri says she was in her second trimester with no complications and her doctors cleared her for travel. But days before they were supposed to head home she experienced pain and bleeding. She was taken to the hospital where Greyson was born three months early, weighing just two pounds.
“It was definitely very scary,” Cheri said. She doesn’t speak Portuguese and had to rely on Chris to translate everything doctors were saying.
Greyson spent weeks in the NICU. His lungs were underdeveloped and he had a hole in his heart. “They truly cared about Greyson and he’s alive because of them and their efforts,” Chris said.
But as they cared for a medically fragile preemie, they faced another challenge – government red tape from two countries.
It started when they tried to get Greyson a Brazilian birth certificate, something that should have been a routine process.
“Our American passports don’t have the names of our parents on them so they refused to generate Greyson’s birth certificate just because of that,” Chris explained.
Without the birth certificate, they couldn’t apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, known as a CRBA, a document required for a U.S. passport.
Making matters even more complicated, the U.S. State Department requires applicants to physically go to the embassy or a consulate. The closest one to Florianopolis was more than 300 miles away. Given massive flooding in the country and the fact Greyson was too small for a car seat – it wasn’t a journey they could make.
“You’re straddling cultural differences, linguistic differences, legal differences and they’re irreconcilable,” Chris said. “It’s very frustrating.”
They hired a lawyer in Brazil but their case has gone nowhere.
Meanwhile, they reached out to Senator Tina Smith from Minnesota. Smith’s office went to work on the case. But even though they get thousands of constituent requests per year, this one proved puzzling.
“I don’t think we’ve seen anything quite like this,” she said. Finally, Thursday morning, Smith’s office got good news to share with the Phillips family – the State Department was making an exception and issuing a passport for Greyson.
“They are showing I think the flexibility that they need to show,” Senator Smith said.
The Phillips were grateful for the news though after all they’ve been through Cheri says it won’t feel real until they land in Minnesota. For Chris, the news is a relief but also bittersweet. He is leaving behind Melory in Brazil after months of quality time.
The silver lining, he says, is seeing Melory and Greyson spend time together. “By him being born here, she’s had the chance to bond with him and form a relationship with him.”
As for Greyson, he will grow up with a story about his rush to be born and the wait to bring him home. One his dad says will come with some gentle teasing.
“Yes Bud, you’re going to know that you caused some problems!” he said with a laugh.
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