A WOMAN who tracked down her half-sister through the pages of the Alloa Advertiser is elated about the prospect of meeting her for the first time.

Lynn Lonnkvist travelled to the Wee County after she found out her Scottish mother had a baby as a teenager, which she was forced to give up for adoption.

Now, a year after she set out on her journey, she and fellow family members will be united with Anderine Drysdale at the spot in Alva where the search began.

When Lynn flew across from Canada she went to the Hillfoots town to look for a house that was registered to her sister at birth and bumped into a local woman.

Morag Jackson was out walking her dog and offered to help her find out more information in a bid to track down her long-lost sibling.

The pair then approached the Advertiser for assistance and, after seeing the story in the paper, her sister got in touch to say she was the one Lynn was looking for.

The family members have all been getting acquainted by speaking online, but are excited about their plans to finally meet up in person next month.

Lynn said it is "truly amazing" to have such a positive end to the story, which started with an internet search before her trip to Scotland in 2017.

The only information she was armed with was the names of eight female babies born in the country around the end of the war.

She said: "With exhilaration and jubilation I find myself making this incredible and historic journey from the west side of Canada to Scotland in September 2018 to meet a half sister that I never knew existed before last year.

"My brother Stuart, sister-in-law Marcy and I will have four days with Anderine to catch up on a lifetime of memories."

It will be a bittersweet meeting, with Lynn saying she regrets that it has come so late in life, with her devoted and loving mother never having had the chance to see Anderine again.

She is also sad that the loss of two brothers and a sister long before their time prevents them from sharing in the "extreme pleasure of this grand occasion", but is delighted to be meeting her.

Lynn said: "Finding Anderine has been such a fulfilment to me as I know our mother would have been so deliriously happy to see Anderine again and share her love, as she did with all her children.

"Not only do I feel elated to have found and met a part of our family, but I feel I have accomplished something that my mother was not able to do because of circumstances beyond her control.

"A long-overdue coming together of a part of history. For my mother, I hope I have done something valuable, as part of a legacy in my mother's honour."