Brazilian birth certificate issued to Cambridge family following premature birth of son, paving way for return to Minnesota

A Cambridge family is closer to returning home to Minnesota following months stuck in Brazil after authorities finally issued their infant son a birth certificate following his premature birth in the county.

Chris and Cheri Phillips had flown to Florianopolis, Brazil, in mid-February to celebrate a family member’s birthday. Cheri ended up giving birth three months prematurely while there, and their son needed to stay in a neonatal intensive care unit for 51 days.

However, once the Phillipses brought baby Greyson home from the hospital, they were stuck in limbo to get back to Minnesota because of a problem getting the baby a birth certificate that is needed for a U.S. passport to be issued.

That was because, according to the family, in order to get a Brazilian birth certificate, they needed to prove who the baby’s grandparents were, which wasn’t on any documents they brought on vacation, and the documents their family sent them lacked a key stamp that Brazil requires.

But on Friday, that hurdle was cleared when a Brazilian government official came to the rental where the family is staying to deliver the child’s birth certificate.

Last week, after reaching out to U.S. Sen. Tina Smith’s office for passport assistance, the family learned the U.S. Embassy would help and waive some of the rules to get all three of them home.