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Sunday Morning News

More Grandparents Take on Dual Role as Parents

Aired September 10, 2000 - 9:24 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Today is Grandparents' Day.

As CNN's Jim Hill reports, more and more grandparents are spending their retirement years raising small children. They're taking on dual roles as grandparents and parents to their children's children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When 4-year-old Devon (ph) falls down and his mom is there to pick him up, his grand mother is always there, too.

ANDREA ENGLANDER, GRANDMOTHER/MOTHER: You think a big old hug will fix it?

HILL: That's because Andrea Englander is both mother and grandmother to the child. She stepped in to raise the child when her son, Devon's dad, was jailed on drug charges and Devon's birth mother, alone and on welfare, couldn't care for the boy.

ENGLANDER: You cannot look at your grandchild, who is either being abused or neglected, and lay awake at night and wonder where they are and what's happening to them. That's not a choice to take them out of that environment.

HILL: Little Devon is among the estimated 2 million U.S. children who are being raised totally by their grandparents or other relatives instead of their birth parents. Ask why and you open a Pandora's box of social nightmares: incarcerated parents, divorce, poverty, drug abuse and alcoholism. The list goes on. All can leave parents unable or unwilling to provide for their own kids, and that leaves foster homes or grandparents to take over.

MARGARET HOLLIDGE, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS: Grandparents take this on because they love their grandchildren tremendously. Who else is better to love them or take care of them than a family member.

HILL: In Devon's case, Englander and her husband, Rob, changed jobs, gave up high-paying, high-stress careers to devote more time to their grandchild. They moved away from a trendy singles community to one that's family oriented. ROB FRIEDENTHAL, GRANDFATHER/FATHER: It's a matter of really just staying by your word. We said we were taking him, we said we were going to take care of him, we were going to raise him. By god, that's what we're going to do.

HILL: When help is needed, it is available through organizations like Grandparents as Parents. Like this family, many need advice on the legal steps required and need support on the challenges of raising another generation.

(on camera): According to experts in this area, U.S. Census figures show the number of grandparents raising grandchildren has risen sharply for 30 years. They also expect new census data to show it is still growing.

Jim Hill, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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