Two American sisters are trying to trace an adopted English sister whose existence they discovered only after their mother had died.

Their mother, Joan Mavis Scott, originally came from Bedford and moved to the States after marrying an American serviceman stationed in England during the Second World War.

The couple were married in April 1944 and had their first child, Carrol 16 months later.

When the war ended, the family moved to the US where they had three more children - another daughter, Susan, in 1949, and identical twins Robert and Donald, in 1955.

But before Joan Scott got married, she gave birth to a daughter who she put up for adoption.

Now her half-sisters are trying to unite the family after more than 50 years apart.

Susan Kennedy-DuHain, who lives in Sacramento, California, discovered her mother's secret after she died suddenly in 1996.

"A year later, my father shared some rather surprising and shocking news with me. He told me that when he met our mother, she was pregnant," Susan told Adoption-net.

"I was not sure if my father was having a 'senior' moment, and was confusing my mother with someone else or what.

"My mother had certainly not shared this 'secret' with any of us," she added.

Despite the shock, Susan, 51, and her sister Carrol, 55, who lives in Idaho, became fascinated by the idea that somewhere in England, they had an adopted half-sister.

"Still suffering from the loss of our mother, we wanted so much to find our sister," said Susan.

"But our father was unable to provide any details other than our mother gave birth to a girl, somewhere in Bedfordshire and sometime between September 1943 and January of 1944.

Susan and Carrol contacted their mother's closest friends, including another war bride from England.

But no one knew of their mother's secret.

They kept hoping their father would remember some important detail. But he died in 1998 without being able to recall any more about the secret he had carried with him for 54 years.

"Carrol and I were ready to give up on this possible fantasy when an incredible thing happened...

"I had a conversation with my ex-husband and he shared with me that years ago, my mother had told him that she had a baby out of wedlock and had given her up for adoption."

The sisters were jubilant - it meant their father's story was confirmed.

But Susan's ex-husband remembered few other details, leaving the sisters no further forward in discovering the whereabouts of their long-lost sister.

However feeling more sure that their sister really existed, Carrol was inspired to do more research and sought information through the Mormon church archives.

Through her search, Carrol found records of a number of births in Bedford during that time period.

She found several possibilities but managed to narrow them down to one record - a record of a birth in Bedford to a "Joan". The baby's name was Jennifer.

Carrol sent away for a copy of the birth certificate, leaving her and her sister on tenterhooks waiting for a reply.

"When it arrived several weeks later, our prayers had been answered," said Susan. "We found the right one. The birth certificate confirmed a baby girl, born October 30, 1943, to Joan Mavis Scott - our mother."

The certificate revealed their mother's address at that time and the name of the hospital. There was no father listed.

But that is as far as Susan and her sister have been able to go.

They have posted details of Jennifer Scott on several websites in the UK and are just praying it will connect them to Jennifer and that she, too, will want to make up the lost years.

"Our prayer is that we find our sister and travel to England to meet her, hug her, and share the last 50 years of our family with her," said Susan.

If you knew of a Joan Mavis Scott, or Jennifer Scott, born in Bedford on October 30 1943, please either contact us or e-mail Susan