7 July 2023 | 19 minutes
In this episode, Jeffrey Young is joined by Ariel Bruce a social worker who specialises in tracing people affected by adoption. She also helps to trace people who have lost touch as a result of emigration, divorce or other family separations. They discuss the challenges and rewards of this line of work, particular stories that have stood out, and the ITV show Long Lost Family in which Ariel is the lead search and social work consultant.
Ariel Bruce is a social worker who specialises in tracing people affected by adoption, in addition to those who have lost touch due to emigration. She has been tracing missing family members for over 20 years and conducts searches not only in Britain, but also all over the world, including countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Ariel not only undertakes to trace missing people but is also experienced in making contact with those found. She aims to support the people who have been traced in what may be a time of shock for them, as well as the person who initiated the tracing.
She is also the lead search and social work consultant for ITV’s “Long Lost Family” and “Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace.” She has undertaken the research to trace and make contact with missing family members for every series since 2011 and works closely with her research team on both documentary programmes.