Madalyn Conchola's granddaughters, who she's raised with some help from her daughter.
Madalyn Conchola
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Madalyn Conchola, 62, who lives in Phoenix. Conchola adopted four of her granddaughters, ages 7 to 19. She said the financial hit has been tough, but her granddaughters have been thriving. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.I was briefly an empty nester; now I've adopted four of my granddaughters, ages 7 to 19. My son's 7-year-old daughter was placed with me when she was 10 months old in 2019. I received my daughter's 12-, 16-, and 19-year-old daughters in 2021.I'm an IT analyst in healthcare technology, which I've been doing for 16 years. I've worked remotely to balance work with raising my youngest daughter, who's now 26. She lives with me but works and has her own life; I don't want to put any responsibility on her to raise the grandkids. When I was an empty nester, I was pursuing ministry in foreign missions and an artistic career change.
My two older children were doing well and had children of their own. Then I found out both of them were dealing with substance abuse issues.I got my son's daughter first, and not long after, I got my older daughter's girls safely with me with the help of Child Protective Services.I had a lot of family resistanceMy extended family felt that if I had intervened, I would have left my daughter to her own devices once she didn't have the responsibility of the children. My daughter had a lot of anger about the situation, but I didn't want the kids to be involved in whatever she needed to do to heal. I told her I wasn't going to let her drag her kids through that. I had recently downsized before getting the kids, but I needed a bigger vehicle and a larger house.Around the time all of this was happening, I buried my mother in 2020 and my brother in 2021. My granddaughters and I lived in my mom's house for three years while I was trying to get her affairs in order, and I settled her estate in early 2026. Once we were ready to put her house up for sale, I moved into a rental.
