MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota couple stranded in Brazil with their newborn son has made headlines.
On Thursday, U. S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. , announced an update after speaking with parents Cheri and Chris Phillips: She had cleared up some “red tape” with the Brazilian embassy to bring baby Greyson back to the United States.
“Through it all, we can verify that Greyson will soon have his passport to return home,” Smith said in a post on X.
Cheri and Chris Phillips of Cambridge, Minnesota, were about six months pregnant when they traveled to Brazil for two weeks last February. Doctors had approved and encouraged the Array and Phillips’ due date was not until early June.
However, two days before the couple returned home, Greyson was born 3 months early. He weighed just over 2 pounds and doctors had to revive his heart.
After 51 days in intensive care, Greyson was given the green light to return home. But to leave Brazil, the baby will need a passport, which would include a birth certificate, which would allow him to curry favor with the Brazilian judicial system. .
The family asked Smith and the Brazilian government for help to return home.
Data released earlier this year through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that preterm and preterm births have increased in the U. S. The U. S. has been in the U. S. over the past decade.
WCCO will continue to stay true to this story and update it when the family returns home.