A MOTHER and daughter have been reunited after almost half a century because of the Disney film Finding Dory.

Moira Hislop, 66, was forced to give up her eldest daughter Susan, 48, for adoption by her parents when she fell pregnant aged 17.

She went on to have three other children, Mark, Laura and Bruce, but always thought about Susan and tried unsuccessfully to track her down.

But years later her son Mark was watching Finding Dory, a film about a fish looking for her family, with his son Bayley, 11.

After drawing parallels between Dory and his sister Susan he decided to try and find her again using Birth Link, a company which helps reunite long lost relatives.

To his surprise, he was able to track her down the same day.

Susan, who had a good upbringing with her adoptive parents, started to think about looking for Moira in her twenties, and later registered with Birth Link.

She was at work one day last July when she received a phone call from Birth Link to say Mark was looking for her.

Hairdresser Susan, from Hawick, who is mother to Lucy, 23, and Scott, 17, said: “Finding Dory is what brought us together. If Mark had not been watching that film we may not have found each other. They have all nicknamed me ‘Dory’ because I was like her, looking for my family. It made me feel so special and so loved to know that they were looking for me.”

Moira discovered Susan had kept the name she gave her at birth and that they had lived just miles apart from each other in the Borders without realising.

The mother and daughter wrote letters to each other before being reunited during an emotional meeting on Susan’s 48th birthday.

After spending three hours with Moira, Susan went on to meet her two brothers, sister, step-father William, 68, and nieces and nephews.

Retired factory worker Moira, who now has seven grandchildren and lives in Consett, County Durham, said: “I never, ever forgot Susan. I would think, where is she, does she look like me, does she have my colour hair, is she being well looked after? I couldn’t believe how close she used to live to us, I used to drive past her house on my way to work and had no idea.

“We decided to meet on her birthday – 48 years after I had given birth to her and it was so emotional. We hugged and talked for hours, it felt amazing.

“We knew we had a bond as soon as we started talking to each other, it was unbelievable.”

Mark, 46, a support worker, said: “I was watching Finding Dory last summer and it set off my emotions. I was crying all the way through it. I got upset comparing Dory to Susan.

“I rang up Birth Link and registered. I thought it was going to be a needle in a haystack or they would contact me a couple of years down the road. I didn’t think it would happen that day!

“When I got the call it felt surreal. I was shaking and felt sick. I couldn’t wait to go over and tell my mam we had found her.”

Susan now meets regularly with Moira and her family.

She said: “I am never off the road now, driving down to visit them or they are visiting me. I may have taken nearly 50 years, but I have finally found my family and I couldn’t be happier.”