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UNITED STATES -- In just a matter of days, American families will not be able to adopt children from Russia. President Vladimir Putin signed the bill into law Friday.

Many believe this law is retaliation for a law President Obama recently signed calling for sanctions against Russian officials who abuse human rights.

The law, which takes effect January first, will also stop children currently in the process of being adopted from leaving Russia.

An adoption law consultant says she's disappointed in this new law, saying it will only hurt the nearly 100,000 children there who are eligible for adoption.

"The estimates are that 18,000 Russian families are interested in adoption. We've got a big disconnect between the number of children available within Russia and the number of Russian families who want to adopt. As a result of that, many, many of these children will remain in an institutionalized setting," said Golda Zimmerman, adoption law consultant.

More than 60,000 Russian children have been adopted by American families over the last two decades.