ITV Long Lost Family helpsCoventry University professor abandoned as baby find answers

A Coventry University professor abandoned as a baby had her efforts to find her family taken on by ITV show Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace. Liz Deutsch was just six weeks old when she was left under a hedge in Birmingham.

Liz was carefully dressed in hand-knitted clothes and a hand-knitted blanket, placed in a shopping basket and left next to Edgbaston Croquet Club on Richmond Hill Road. Her mother was never traced and she was placed into long-term foster care where she remained until the age of 16.

Since then she has navigated her own path, from studying A-Levels to completing a PhD at The University of Manchester. She went on to become a Professor of Nursing Practice as part of a collaboration between the Coventry University Research Centre for Care Excellence (CCE) and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

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Liz first contacted the Long Lost Family team to be part of the ITV show four years ago, and they took on the challenge of finding the answers she had longed for since childhood. She would receive an email each year saying they were still searching and would update her when they had made a breakthrough, which happened in October 2023.

Liz said she received a phone call from the series' producer who suggested filming, which led to the final production shown on ITV. She said: “I said I was not going to watch it as I was very nervous about seeing myself on TV.”

She continued: “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.”

In the show, Liz eventually finds out the identity of her birth mother which she describes as 'the best present I could ever want.' Liz said: “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.”

Researchers also managed to track down her second cousin, Christine. She said: “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 show she had researched herself and did a phenomenal job.”

Liz added: “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.”

While her start in life is certainly emotional and created challenges over the years, Liz has overcome them all including defying the belief of medical experts who said she would never walk due to problems with her back and legs. She has gone on to complete physical feats such as long-distance walks including the 180-mile Offa's Dyke and the Thames Path.

Liz now hopes that others can take inspiration from her story, saying: “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 added: “Only 2 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.”

Watch Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace on ITVX.

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