Maxine Buckmeier facilitated three adoptions for us. One in particular was extremely complicated and required extra attention. All three required extensive experience involving ICWA. Maxine was able to address all the issues with each. The respect and care she showed for each of the birth parents and babies was admirable. We wouldn’t consider working with another attorney in the event we decide on another adoption.

My husband and I live in the Kansas City area. In mid-June 2012 we were contacted by our local adoption facilitator; she told us that a birth mother had chosen us to adopt her child. We had only just got all our background checks, home study, etc two months before this. Naturally we were ecstatic. The birth mother wanted us to come to meet her in Sioux City. Her water had already broken, but she was a month early, so the drs gave her steroids to help the baby develop a little quicker and then they would do a c-section in three days. We were in Sioux City within sixteen hours. We were under the impression that we were meeting the mother at the hospital. Instead we met with Mrs. Buckmeier at her office. It was then when things got fishy. She wouldn’t tell us anything about the birth mother or baby until we met a gentleman named Brock Hutchison at Maxine’s office. Brock came into the conference room wearing a polo shirt, shorts and flip-flops; not most people wear in a law office. (At the time I was employed as a research paralegal at a medical malpractice law firm and had been working in law offices for more than a decade.) Brock insisted that we pay him $8k as a “finder’s fee”. Maxine’s fee was $6500, which we also paid. Reluctantly, we paid them after all, we HAD just driven almost eight hours. They finally took us to the hospital to meet the birth mother. We spent all of our waking hours at the hospital getting to know the BM. We’d go out to buy the food she was craving. We even bought her a portable DVD player and kept her supplied with movies from Redbox. Our daughter was born three days later, she was a month early, so she was in NICU for ten days. After BM was discharged from the hospital, we started getting lots of calls from Maxine saying we needed to come meet her at her office. We finally went to her office while we were out getting lunch. (We spent all day at the hospital in NICU with our daughter and then we were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald’ Hoyse.) when we got to her office she told us that we were responsible for BM’s living expenses until she was able to go back to work. So Maxine charged us ANOTHER $5k to cover BM’s rent, car payment and utilities for three months. If we couldn’t or wouldn’t, she would not get the adoption papers signed my BM. (BM has a c-section, so she had to way 3 full days, to the minute, before she could sign them. Again, we forked over the money. We finally got to bring our daughter home to Kansas on July 7, 2021. While we with BM in the hospital, BM told us that she hadn’t met Maxine until after she went into labor and she told them she wanted to give the baby up for adoption. Just like magic, Maxine showed up a couple of hours later. She also said that she had NEVER met Brock; so why did we pay him to find us a baby?? When we got back to Kansas, and we were talking to our local attorney about this. She said that each state is different, but she check into the legality of our experience. She found out that MAXINE AND BROCK WERE MARRIED! That’s why BM never met Brock, Maxine took care of it all. I contacted Maxine’s office fourteen times asking for an itemized statement of the BM’s expenses. Instead of EVER calling me back, I got a check for less than $200 saying that not all of the money had been needed by BM. So in review: *They waited until we drove eight hours one way to tell us the fees. *Charged us “Finder’s Fee” even tho it was the hospital that found us our child. *Neglected to disclose that they were married. *Brock just piggy-backed in on the deal to get his fee. My husband and I were planning on hiring an attorney to bring a suit against both of them. However, I became ill due to a blood clot the night our adoption was finalized in Kansas. I was in ICU at KU Medical Center for 39 days. After I was discharged, I was not physically able to travel back and forth to IA. (I’m fine now after a lot of physical therapy.) DO NOT HIRE EITHER OF THEM!!!