Continued from the previous post, "Court Case Illustrates Problems with Independent Adoption"

Doubts surface
Christine Kilmer recounts that she had private doubts about following through with her adoption plan during the first two days after giving birth, but she didn’t say anything because she thought her feelings would go away. Hours before she was scheduled to sign the relinquishment papers, Kilmer opted to parent her baby.

According to Kilmer, the attorneys for the adoptive parents urged her to reconsider her decision, and when she refused, she was given one day to leave her apartment unless she could pay the rent (which she couldn’t). Her baby was four days old.

The Nebraska couple who had hoped to adopt Kilmer’s baby claim that Kilmer knew they “weren’t going to continue to pay the rent” if Kilmer chose to parent. The couple said they had already spent more than $12,000, half of which was for Kilmer’s living expenses.

Children removed to foster care
Here’s where things really get hairy. The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) temporarily prevented Kilmer from taking her baby from the hospital and a few days later, removed her other child, a 4-year-old, from a homeless shelter and into foster care.

Nurse testifies
A nurse (I’m assuming it’s a nurse from the hospital in which Kilmer had her baby) testified that she called DHS after hearing from Maxine Buckmeier, the attorney who represented the would-be adoptive parents. Buckmeier informed the nurse that Kilmer was homeless. The nurse testified that she then spoke with Kilmer, who indicated that she didn’t have a plan for how to rectify her homelessness.

The state investigates
The state began investigating Kilmer’s background and discovered the following:

• At least one previous example of the government removing her children from her home.



• A guilty plea Kilmer made to child abuse in the mid-1990s. Kilmer testified that abusive men in her life made false reports against her.



• A 21-month prison sentence in the late 1990s for violating the terms of her probation.

DHS investigators say they found enough evidence to place Kilmer’s children in foster care. Kilmer’s mother moved to Sioux City from Florida in mid-September to help her daughter regain custody. The children remain in foster care.

The Nebraska couple is still working with Buckmeier to plan an adoption with another woman living in Sioux City.

Continued in the next post