The slush and snow did not seem to bother Lou and Catherine Tharin as they trudged along Moscow's Garden Ring on Monday clutching four little sets of hands. Irina, Marina, Nadya and Veronica, aged 4 to 7, walked silently beside the couple from South Carolina -- the people whom, with a little time and a few English lessons, they will call mom and dad.


With the four little girls from a Pskov orphanage now safely in their custody, the Tharins can breath a sigh of relief. Even as they were finalizing the adoption last week, the Duma passed a bill that will introduce a new set of rules regulating foreign adoption in Russia.


The new law -- which still must be passed by the Federation Council and then signed by President Boris Yeltsin before it goes into effect -- has Western and Russian officials offering conflicting statements as to how and when regulations will change.


Despite government denials, however, there are increasing indications that a temporary suspension is in the offing.


In the meantime, hundreds of potential families are caught in limbo, not knowing whether to travel to Russia to complete adoption procedures. Since 1991, when restrictions were eased, international adoptions have jumped from a trickle to more than 2,000 this year.


A report by the U.S. Embassy, based on a conversation with Educa tion Ministry officials, warned potential parents last week that a suspension of international adoptions will go into effect as early as Dec. 1.


The embassy, which processes an average of seven adoptions a day, represents the country hardest hit by the change. Canada and Italy are next on the list, but total adoptions for the two last year amounted to about 300.


Representatives of the State Duma and the Education Ministry, which is responsible for adoptions, have repeatedly denied that a moratorium on adoptions will take place, and continued to do so Monday although the denial came with a caveat.


Irina Volodina, a ministry official, said a suspension may take place after President Yeltsin approves the law to give the government time to administer the new regulations.


The U.S. Embassy "spoke prematurely," Volodina said. "The question of a suspension has not been resolved yet. We won't know ourselves until later in the week."


But rumors of a moratorium are already floating throughout the adoption community. The Moscow Adoption Center was under the impression Monday that a moratorium was already in place, while Right of the Child, another Moscow agency that facilitates adoptions, was conducting business as usual.


In the regions -- which can grant or deny authorization -- some officials have already enacted their own moratorium on international adoptions. Others still process adoptions and may continue to do so, a ministry official acknowledged Monday, even if a temporary suspension is announced.


The new regulations include establishing an accreditation process for foreign agencies working in Russia, as well as a nationwide data bank to centralize the records of Russia's 100,000 orphans and assist in their placement. The new law will require orphanages to complete a thorough search for a Russian family before putting the child up for adoption abroad.


A U.S. Embassy official said Monday that up to 200 families may be affected by any sudden change in Russian policy, and they are advising American couples in the process of adopting to keep in close contact with their agencies before deciding to travel here. Those families who have not received regional authorization before the anticipated suspension goes into effect may find they have made the trip in vain.


"We're concerned about those people who want to come in the next few weeks and who may get caught by surprise," said an embassy spokesperson, adding that December is the most popular month for adoption.


Helen Baker and her husband, who live outside Boston, were hoping to bring their 2-year-old daughter home by Christmas, but she worries she will not complete the necessary paperwork involved before the rules change, and will have to start the process all over again.


"I heard on the news that they are putting a stop to adoptions," said Baker, who is still waiting for clearance by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service before she can finalize the adoption. But she said in a telephone interview that when she called the Russian regional office where the adoption is to take place, she was assured the moratorium was only a rumor and adoptions will continue.


"I don't know what to do," Baker said. "I'm so upset by this whole thing."


For the Tharins, those problems are now over.


Catherine Tharin, who already has three grown sons back in the United States, seemed delighted with her rapidly expanding family.


"We love being parents," she said. "Besides, I've always wanted a daughter."


Now they have not one but five little girls, the fifth one adopted this year from Paraguay.