[calikismet]

We adopted twice as well, and our son was 25 and 26 months old when we left for the trips for our daughter's adoption.

First of all, both parents are required to be in court, which is trip #2. One can leave right after court if necessary, but both must be physically present in court. This is non-negotiable as far as I know. Regarding trip #1, it used to be that one parent could go on trip 1, and take a power of attorney along for signing papers, etc. However, under Russian law, both prospective parents must meet and see the child before court. So if one parent stayed home on trip 1, the couple would have to visit the child before court on trip 2. That was usually enough. However, under the tightening of the regs, in most regions, that will no longer work. You would risk getting to court and having the judge deny the adoption b/c both parents did not spend enough time with the child.

Regarding taking a 3-4 year old with you, that is pretty young for this huge of a trip. It is not just that the trip is long and far; my 2 small children have travelled with us on plenty of vacations, inc. to the Caribbean. As AngelKisses explained, the trip is just darned HARD. Moscow and St. Pete are very modern. But the outer regions are very rustic and somewhat uncomfortable. You are usually also jammed into tiny cars with other families, no seatbelts or car seats, and lots of smoking and other environmental things. We did not even consider taking our son with us on our daughter's adoption. He stayed with my parents, and had a grand ol' time. If our son was older, I would have considered taking him - I think 8-9 and above is just fine.

Best of luck in your decision!