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A Jersey-born teacher who was born from a sperm donor has managed to trace four half-siblings following an "unexpected" journey of "twists and turns" that saw him end up on national TV.
Liam Renouf, who appeared in a prime-time ITV documentary this week, spoke to Express about his search for answers...
Liam grew up in St Clement before attending Hautlieu School.
The now Clapton-based teacher knew from a young age that he was conceived from a sperm donor, with several articles appearing in the local and national media at the time.
Pictured: Liam Renouf, with his mum Julie, who had him through the use of a sperm donor in the 90s. (Wall to Wall/ITV)
However, he told Express that growing up on the island had lessened the desire while growing up to know more about his past.
It wasn’t until he was older that he began to ask questions.
"Lots of donor-conceived people feel this fire under them to find out answers, whereas for me, I started out being a bit inquisitive, but being from Jersey and having a strong community and identity and shared history, I hadn't really thought too much about it.
“I was really lucky to be able to grow up somewhere like that and feel part of this community,” he explained.
Pictured: Liam as a baby.
"As things unfolded, there came a time when I did want to know more and that's when I got quite interested in it and joined a social media group of donor-conceived people.”
That process of investigating his background very suddenly accelerated last year, when he came across an advert from ITV for a new show narrated by Davina McCall made by the makers of the hugely-popular documentary series 'Long Lost Family'.
The aim of ‘Born from the Same Stranger’ was to follow several people, all born from a donor, as they look for their unknown blood relations.
Taking place last year, the filming was to coincide with a new UK law coming into effect that waives donor anonymity and allows anyone conceived by donation after 2005 is able to find out more details about their identity when they turn 18.
But when Liam applied, he said he didn’t expect to hear back – nor did he expect what would happen when he did.
"Pretty much everything that has happened from then has been unexpected," he said. "I didn't expect to find anything, so every single twist and turn has been so unexpected."
Pictured: Liam didn't expect that the TV series producers would pick up his story.
Following initial interviews in late 2022, filming took place in Jersey last August and September, with images of the island’s coastline and a trip to the home of Liam’s mum, Julie, also featuring.
While he was able to find out some information about his donor, the biggest gift from the series was learning that he had four half-siblings all born from the same stranger.
And he also got to meet them.
"This experience has opened me up in so many ways,” Liam reflected.
Pictured: Liam with his half-siblings that he found through the show - Beth (25), Charlie (28) and Mae (27). (Wall to Wall/ITV)
“When I first met my half-siblings, I felt this significant warmth toward them that I didn't expect.
“That we looked like each other, and had similar traits and mannerisms, was shocking to me."
Liam, who said that he was planning to stay in touch with all of his half-siblings, said he was also pleased about the reaction to the show.
After airing on ITV1 at 9pm on Monday, the show has received glowing reviews – and earned particular praise from those with a similar background.
Liam said he had received comments on social media from the donor-conceived community which had been "so lovely".
Video: A trailer for the series.
"People were saying that we've managed to capture the feelings of being donor-conceived really well, when it can often be a moral and ethical minefield.
"It has been an emotional experience, especially because the format of television encourages you to vocalise and reflect on something, which helped me to articulate it."
Liam's episode is the first in the series, which can be streamed on ITVX here.
Pictured top: Jersey's coastline features in Liam's episode. (Wall to Wall/ITV)
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