When Jennifer West discovered she was adopted aged 57, she lost all sense of her identity.

As she tried to unearth her past, she found her mother had just passed away and met a sister she never knew.

In her quest to find her biological father she even laid flowers on the wrong man's grave.

But today she thinks she knows who her father is and, for the first time, she spent her birthday as who she really is - with her biological family.

As well as her sister Trish Wills, who she first met last year in Cape Town, South Africa, there was another addition to her life - her half-sister Cherry Smith.

Jennifer, 59, and Trish, 63, have come a long way in the last year. Their visit to Brighton is the climax of months of research and discoveries. It was here heir mother, American heiress Uretta Campbell-Stuart, who gave them away as babies, died three years ago.

Jennifer, who has two children and now lives in Queensland, Australia, said: "When I found out I was adopted I thought 'who am I? and where am I from?' I didn't even know my real name and felt like nobody.

"I was disappointed when I found out my mother had died. But I have found my sister and a whole new family. Now I know where I come from and I feel whole."

Uretta led a flamboyant lifestyle in Brighton in the Forties. But she was a private woman and her life is still shrouded in secrecy.

Why she gave up both her children as babies is still a mystery, one the sisters hope to solve during their visit.

They visited Devonshire Place, where Uretta lived in the Forties, and had a drink in her old haunts including the Cricketers pub where they bumped into an old acquaintance of their mother.

They visited Preston Drove where Uretta lived for 40 years and the Preston Brewery Tap pub.

Other people they tried to trace were Peter Lambert and David Pelham who may have lived in the Preston Drove area. Their names were written in Uretta's travel diary.

Trish, a mother of six who lives in Cape Town, said: "We just want to find out about the circumstances of Uretta's life when she gave us up in the Forties. Then we may have more understanding about why she gave us both away.

"We know it was the war and they were crazy days. I was shipped to Jamaica in the care of a nanny during the Blitz.

"But Uretta was a wealthy woman, and although I was illegitimate, she was still with my father Evan Tatem Powell. All I can think is she just was not the maternal type."

Trish was adopted by her father's parents. She only met him once before he died when she was 21.

She met her mother when she was seven and again when she was grown up. But Uretta never told her why she was given away or that she had a sister.

When Trish was born Uretta was still married, although separated, from her husband Denzil Branch.

He was named as Jennifer's father on her birth certificate and died the day her adoption went through. She laid flowers on his grave in the belief he was her biological father.

Now the sisters believe Evan Powell is also Jennifer's father - despite the fact that by the time of her birth in August 1943, he had already married another woman.

Jennifer was adopted by a family in London.

She said: "My adoptive mother met my father when I was being adopted. Although she can't remember his name, she said he was tall, thin, younger than Uretta and a pilot. That description fits Evan Powell."

This week Jennifer met Evan Powell's daughter Cherry for the first time and dozens of nieces and nephews.

For Jennifer, nothing can make up for never having met her biological mother who died, aged 93, in Brighton in 1999. But finding a new family and visiting Brighton has eased some of the pain.

When asked if they were prepared for any more surprises, Jennifer grinned and Trish said: "I'm keeping an open mind."