It sounds as if they brought up pa and ma well (12)
I believe the answer is:
grandparents
'it sounds as if they brought up pa' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun but the answer is a plural noun.
'and ma well' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found within the answer.
'ma' could be 'parent' and 'parent' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'grads' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for grandparents that I've seen is " Close ancestors".)