A crisis only for bureaucrats? Ask the growing family on hold

This was supposed to be one of the happiest weeks of their lives. Their new, 17-month-old child, Joe, was waiting for them in China. Their other son, Henry, was eager to see his brother, who will share his bedroom.

Instead, Andy and Erin Pratt spent anxious days and late nights watching news reports and rearranging travel plans while the surreal drama in Washington, D.C., interrupted their plans for a new addition to the family. A lot of things can go wrong and stall an international adoption, but the Pratts never imagined the reason for their problem: The government was about to close for business.

"I called my travel agent and said I might have to cancel my trip to China because the government might shut down," said Andy.

The agent was confused: "The Chinese government is shutting down?" she asked.

"No," said Andy. "Ours."

The Pratts weren't alone. According to Amy Brendmoen of Children's Home Society and Family Services, at least three Minnesota families were in flux because of the threatened shutdown. One family left Friday evening, hoping for the best.

"We were to leave on Thursday, and we have an appointment at the U.S. Embassy to get our son's visa on April 20," Andy Pratt wrote to me in an e-mail during the week. The Pratts "have been working on this adoption for well over a year, and are all amped to go and meet our child, and are now denied due to the failure of government to do one of its most basic tasks," he added. "My wife and I have been staying up late trying to rearrange plane tickets, and have been almost paralyzed all day trying to find news on this shutdown. This is something that should be one of the greatest moments in our lives, but instead is filled with anxiety and anger."

The Pratts know international adoptions can be stressful. They adopted Henry, now 4 1/2, from Guatemala in 2006. Guatemala has now suspended adoptions, and there is a long wait for children from China. The Pratts were able to adopt Joe because he has special needs. But their timing has been hard to believe.

They had a hold on plane tickets for Saturday and waited until the last moment Thursday night, hoping the budget negotiations between President Obama and Republican leaders would be resolved.

With the sides still deadlocked, the Pratts cancelled their tickets late Thursday. Friday night, a deal was struck in Washington, but it was too late for the Pratts. By Saturday, they were trying to rebook flights and rooms, but a large convention in the Chinese city where the adoption will take place has taken up hotel rooms and made prices skyrocket.

"The last government shutdown lasted more than 20 days, so if we just leave, it was possible I'd have to come back home to work before we got our son," said Andy. Each meeting to finalize the adoption was predicated upon the previous one, so one missed meeting can mean a series of glitches that would be exacerbated in China.

I asked Andy what he does for a living. He's a lawyer. He specializes in -- drum roll -- government finance.

"It's hard to explain [the delay] to him," said Andy. "But he's ecstatic. He's going to teach him how to play baseball and ride a bike. It will be great to have these two kids from opposite sides of the Earth here together. And we'll have a lot of stories to tell him when he gets older."