Two trips are required of families adopting from Russia. The first trip involves the parents visiting the child with limited or no information on this child prior to the first trip. Parents travel again to complete their adoption approximately 2 to 4 months from the time they accept a referral of a child after the first trip, assuming their paperwork is completed and is accepted by adoption officials. Because an appearance before the court is required to finalize the international adoption, both parents are required to travel.

Following the court hearing, a 10-day wait is required for the adoption decree to go into effect. In almost all cases, the 10 day wait will not be waived. Following the receipt of the adoption decree, the family obtains a new birth certificate and passport for their child in the region of the adoption. Next the family travels back to Moscow to process the child's U.S. immigrant visa at the U.S. embassy. If a family chooses to come home to the US during the 10 day appeal period, the finalization will be completed in two trips. The first trip for court will take approximately 7 days, including travel and the second trip to finalize the paperwork after the court hearing will take approximately 14 days, including travel. While in Russia, parents are accompanied by a translator and/or a Gladney representative at all times.

Cost of Traveling to Russia

Though the cost of airfare to Russia depends greatly upon the time of year, with January and February being the lowest expense (for obvious cold weather reasons), you will need to plan on at least $1,300 per person for each plane ticket -- in addition to adoption expenses. Right now, families are making three trips to complete their adoption. On the last trip, airfare for your child will be approximately 10% of an adult fair if the child is under two years old and travels as a lap child, but you must pay the full adult price for children over two years.

During the first trip where you will meet your child, the estimated cost of the approximate week stay will be $2,500-$5,500.* These costs are in addition to your adoption fees and include food, lodging, transportation, translation, and travel to the region for the family, their translator and coordinator. On the second week long trip, which includes a court hearing, the estimated cost is $4,500 - $6,500. Because the 10 day waiting period might not be waived, many families are now making a third trip to finalize their adoption. (Those who do choose to stay in Russia after the court hearing will be spending approximately 28 days in country.) The third trip will generally be two weeks in length and cost approximately $4,500 - $6,500.

*All prices are estimates.

To learn more about adopting from Russia, please request one of Gladney's free, comprehensive Adoption Information Packets. Make your request on-line or by calling 1-800-INT-ADOP.