A university professor, who was abandoned as a baby under a hedge in Birmingham, has managed to trace her family decades later with the help of ITV’s Long Lost Family.
Liz Deutsch was a mere six weeks old when she was discovered under a hedge in Birmingham. Dressed with care in hand-knitted garments and wrapped in a knitted blanket, she was found in a shopping basket beside Edgbaston Croquet Club on Richmond Hill Road in 1965. Her birth mother remained unidentified, and Liz entered long-term foster care, where she stayed until she turned 16.
Liz carved out her own journey, progressing from A-Levels to earning a PhD at The University of Manchester. She later achieved the position of Professor of Nursing Practice through a joint venture between Coventry University’s Research Centre for Care Excellence (CCE) and the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
She saw her quest to uncover her family history featured on the ITV programme Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace after reaching out to the programme four years ago.
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Reflecting on the experience, Liz recounted receiving a call from the show’s producer proposing filming, which culminated in the episode aired on ITV. She shared her apprehension about the broadcast: “I said I was not going to watch it as I was very nervous about seeing myself on TV,” reports Coventry Live.
She recounted: “I said I was going to go for a walk and do anything to fill the time but I did watch it and felt myself relax as I watched, the production team did it so sensitively; the whole process was exhausting but thoroughly revelatory and just astounding.”
On learning the identity of her birth mother, Liz expressed that it was ‘the best present I could ever want,’ adding: “My reaction now is that it has satisfied the parameters of understanding where I came from. I feel freed; not from the stigma of being in foster care as that is a massive life issue but it has brought me some comfort and I have no regrets.”
Revealing her connection with Christine, her second cousin found during the show, she mentioned, “We have stayed in touch and are making gentle contact. She has been brilliant and sent some beautiful emails and the photo album you see in the shout she had researched herself and did a phenomenal job.”
Adding to her discoveries, Liz claimed, “I want to know more now, my birth father is likely to be in America. I have potential DNA connections and have to follow them up.”
Despite challenges in her early life including medical experts saying she’d never walk due to back and leg problems, Liz has triumphed over adversity, achieving remarkable physical tasks such as trekking the 180-mile Offa’s Dyke and the Thames Path.
Liz has expressed her desire for her journey to serve as a beacon of hope, remarking: “In foster care, no one will necessarily help you find your way when you leave care. I had to navigate my own way from the age of 16 and want to leave that success as my legacy and I hope my positive attitude to life can be a benefit to our students.”
She continued: “Only two per cent of children who have been in care go on to complete degrees at university and my message is that foster kids are still children, they can go out there and achieve something. Most of us are very capable and just need a chance. My big chance was coming to Coventry University and the opportunities I feel gave that to me.”