WASHINGTON — Edward and Jayne Lyons weren't looking to jump into family life by adopting a 4- and a 6-year-old. They had tried having children since their marriage in 1990 but were unsuccessful. They applied to Catholic Charities in St. Paul, Minn., to adopt an infant, but in the meantime learned that Jayne's niece and nephew needed a permanent, stable home.

They would have been helped by an initiative, announced by President Bush, which includes the first federal adoption Web site, AdoptUSKids.org, which will feature photos and profiles of children available for adoption and maintain a database of prospective adoptive parents.

The Bush initiative also includes a public service announcement featuring First Lady Laura Bush and actor Bruce Willis, who was appointed national spokesman for children in foster care. The ad urges families to consider adopting children in foster care and provides a toll-free number families can call to receive information on how to adopt.

The Lyons said this would have been great for them. “We just decided to open our hearts and home,” Jayne said. And Devon, now 7, and Chanel, 9, became their son and daughter. The Lyonses suddenly had a lot to learn about being Mom and Dad — parents of school-age children.

“I guess there's a reason they come in small packages,” Jayne said. Parents normally have a chance to grow into their role when their first child is still an infant, she and her husband explained.

In a speech in the East Room of the White House on July 23, Bush said, in cases like the Lyons, adoption “reveals the good heart of America.”

“Extending the welcome of family to a vulnerable child is a great commitment, but it's an extraordinary act of love,” Bush said.

Bush's brother Marvin and his wife, Margaret, have two children who are adopted.

“Common sense and social science lead to the same conclusion: children thrive in secure, loving and stable homes,” the president said. “Providing that kind of home through adoption can be a long and a time-consuming process.”

The Lyonses, who live outside St. Paul, know about that. They have been waiting three years to adopt an infant.

“I know there are so many couples out there waiting to adopt, especially for a Caucasian baby,” Jayne said. “This has made me think about a couple of things — for example, about how many abortions there are, about the number of pregnant teen-agers and how that's no longer a social stigma.”

Ed Lyons remembers that 30 or more years ago, when unmarried mothers more readily gave up their children for adoption rather than suffer that stigma, “you just got in line [to adopt] and that was it.” Now, he said, more and more grandmothers are insisting on raising children born out of wedlock.

Foster-Care Kids

Bush pointed out that there are about 130,000 children in the nation's foster-care system waiting to be adopted.

“For those of us who support the dignity of every human life, we have a responsibility to encourage hopeful lives for children who are born,” he said.

Willis said many children are leaving the foster-care system as young adults “without any support to help them reach their full potential.”

“There are many, many people in this country who would welcome the chance to help children in foster care, if only someone showed them how they could do it,” Willis said.

The Lyonses also had to help their new children deal with “detachment disorder” stemming from leaving their biological parents and having been moved through the foster-care system.

Adopting children required “a lot of sacrifice and prayer,” Ed said. “It helped us get closer to God.”

But he said the joy of being adoptive parents “definitely outweighs the challenges,” and he and his wife, who are still waiting to adopt an infant through Catholic Charities, are happy to see the White House promoting adoption.

Patrick Purtill, president of the National Council For Adoption, predicted that with the “bully pulpit” of the White House behind it, the new initiative will raise adoption “a lot higher on the radar screen than it's been.”

“Trying to find homes for needy children — permanent, loving families — is a very noble and compassionate thing for Bush to be involved in,” said Purtill, who attended the White House announcement.

“It's a concrete step toward respect for life and being more pro-family,” Ed Lyons commented.

With adoption, the Catholic teaching that married people be open to children has become more important to him and his wife. “We see American society today not always being open. People think of being open to having children in the biological sense. But a more holistic view includes adoption,” he said.

“People think of pro-life as being against abortion,” Jayne Lyons said. “But it's important to look out for kids in foster care too. It's a hard thing for them to be in foster care. … It's great to have information on the new Web site, especially for folks who don't know how to adopt.”

Things have gotten easier for the Lyonses since the period of adjustment when Devon and Chanel started to wonder if their new home would be permanent. They also went through a stage of testing out their new parents to see if some of the rules they lived by in foster homes would work in their new home.

‘Great Experience’

Jayne had the support of a Familia group at her church, who threw her a baby shower. Familia is an apostolate of the Regnum Christi movement.

“It's been a great experience being able to be a parent,” she said. “Adoption is a terrific thing. People say the kids are lucky to have you. We feel we'rethe lucky ones being able to be parents. On a daily basis, they bring joy.”

Having Devon and Chanel adds another incentive for adopting an infant: the boy and girl “need to know that they're the older brother and older sister,” Ed said.

“I can't wait to help take care of the baby,” Chanel wrote on a family Web site. “I'll even help with the diapers.”