Woman abandoned as baby traces family 59 years on

Liz Deutsch took part in ITV's Long Lost Family, hosted by Davina McCall

A woman who was abandoned in a shopping basket when she was six days old has said she will continue to trace her family history after a TV documentary uncovered new evidence of her past.

Liz Deutsch, from Ledbury in Herefordshire, was found in a shopping basket in Edgbaston, Birmingham, in 1965.

The Coventry University professor enlisted ITV's Long Lost Family to help trace her roots.

The show identified her late mother through DNA and other evidence, and put her in touch with other relatives.

Ms Deutsch said she had no regrets about the process, and hoped that others, including the students she works with, would take inspiration from her story.

Ms Deutsch said: “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."

The programme found DNA links between Ms Deutsch and two sisters named as Muriel and Hilda.

Both died without acknowledged children, but further circumstantial evidence led experts to judge that Muriel had been Ms Deutsch's mother.

Ms Deutsch has now made contact with a second cousin, and believes her birth father to be American.

She said: "I feel freed, not from the stigma of being in foster care as that’s a massive life issue but it has brought me some comfort and I have no regrets.”