A GLASGOW charity campaigner’s dramatic story of the search for her adopted brother’s birth family is to be turned into a film.

Michaela Foster Marsh wrote Starchild: A Memoir of Adoption, Race and Family about her journey, the charity she founded as a result and the school for creative arts she and her friends built for some of Uganda’s poorest children.

Now the book is to be made into a documentary by BAFTA-winning director Alex McCall.

Alex said: “Michaela’s story is a real-life rollercoaster ride which takes the reader through heart-warming loves and tragic losses, amazing discoveries, creative ability, fascinating locations, genuine compassion, sheer hard graft and great vision.

“Put this against the backdrop of her spirituality, and you have the makings of a great documentary.”

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Starchild tells the story of Michaela and Frankie, unusual ‘twins’ - one white, one black - who grew up together after Michaela’s parents adopted the young Ugandan boy when he was 13-months-old.

Glasgow Times: Michaela and Frankie. Picture courtesy of Michaela Foster MarshMichaela and Frankie. Picture courtesy of Michaela Foster Marsh

Tragically, Frankie died in a house fire, aged just 26, when a power failure started a blaze in his block of flats in Govanhill.

Just a few months before his death he had begun to look into his background and Michaela was determined to finish the task.

Glasgow Times: Frankie, who sadly died in a house fire.Frankie, who sadly died in a house fire. (Image: Michaela Foster Marsh)

Having traced Frankie’s family to Luwero, where she had an emotional meeting with his brother, Paul, Michaela returned home - but horrified by the levels of poverty she had seen, she was determined to help the community build a brighter future for its children.

Over the next few years, with her partner Rony Bridges at her side and supported by friends and local businesses, she held art auctions and charity nights to raise the funds needed to build a school that would allow poorer children to access music and the arts.

Glasgow Times: Michaela in UgandaMichaela in Uganda (Image: Michaela Foster Marsh)

Starchild was born (the name comes from Frankie’s favourite song, by Level 42) and as well as the school itself, the charity supports other local causes, including a women’s health project, and the  Sunflower Sanctuary, a project aimed at supporting children with autism and disabilities.

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Rony was the driving force behind the Sunflower Sanctuary, but sadly he died in 2019 from lung cancer. During filming for the documentary, Frankie’s birth relatives will travel to Uganda with Michaela to officially open the sanctuary in memory of Rony.

Glasgow Times: Michaela and RonyMichaela and Rony (Image: Michaela Foster Marsh)

Michaela said: “I’m very excited that my book will be made into a documentary. Alex is a fantastic filmmaker. It’s going to be a wonderful, if emotional, experience.”