Kellie and Jeremy Finlayson made several attempts to give their daughter, Sophia, a sibling in late 2024.
In her new book, There Must Be More, 29-year-old Kellie opens up about their journey to grow their family.
Kellie, who is living with terminal bowel cancer after being diagnosed when Sophia was just three months old, shares her deep longing for another child.
I was yearning for a newborn. I wanted so badly to give Sophia a sibling,” she writes. “More than anything, I wanted the chance to truly experience the first year of motherhood—to rewrite the story.
But then I began to ask myself: at what cost?
Kellie and Jeremy Finlayson’s Emotional Journey: Surrogacy, Cancer, and Family Dreams
The couple found a surrogate who also agreed to donate an egg, and they made several attempts.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
We wrapped it up in December. In the end, it felt more like a burden than a blessing,
Kellie was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer in 2021, shortly after welcoming her daughter Sophia, who is now three.
She and her AFL star husband had to cancel their elaborate wedding plans, opting instead for a smaller, more immediate ceremony in March 2023, ahead of Kellie’s treatment for her terminal illness.
Throughout her cancer journey, Kellie has found strength in using her voice to advocate for herself and others—most notably through her podcast Sh!t Talkers, co-hosted with fellow cancer patient Sophie Edwards, who was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2022.
It’s really hard, as a woman, to be taken seriously sometimes,” Kellie shared.
Finding that middle ground—figuring out what was respectful while also standing up for what was right for me—was so important.
I don’t think I would’ve found the courage to do that if I hadn’t started sharing my story and, in a way, ‘talking the talk’ by encouraging others to advocate for themselves,” she continued.
I wouldn’t have had to ‘walk the walk’ myself if I hadn’t put that message out there.
Inside Kellie Finlayson’s Battle with Terminal Cancer and Her Hope to Give Daughter Sophia a Sibling
Kellie sees those same qualities reflected in her daughter, whom she describes as incredibly resilient and intuitive.
She just knows exactly what to say at the right moments,” Kellie shared.
For example, one of my friend’s daughters—who’s the same age as Sophia—recently had surgery. And as a mum, of course, it’s really scary putting your child under anesthesia.
But Sophia, being the little medical expert she’s become, was so comforting. When they got home, she gave her a hug and said, ‘It’s OK, don’t be sad—the doctors are clever,’” Kellie recalled.
And I just thought, how is a three-year-old consoling a woman in her twenties? It completely blew my mind. Everyone in the room was like, ‘Did that really just happen?’
It makes me so proud of whatever I’ve done to raise her to be this way.
Kellie’s cancer treatment is ongoing.
I’m on oral chemotherapy and a targeted immunotherapy,” she explained.
I take chemo pills every day, which is… interesting, and I have immunotherapy every three weeks. Honestly, I don’t want to call this treatment easy—because it’s not—but compared to everything I’ve been through, it feels easier.
Next, Kellie plans to return home to Adelaide before heading off on a holiday in Bali with her daughter, followed by more advocacy work.
It’s a bit of everything—promoting the book, getting it into the right hands, and hopefully offering some insight even to medical professionals,” she shared.
As for Jeremy, she doesn’t expect him to read her book—at least not yet.
No, I don’t think he will,” she said.
It’s pretty confronting for him. I mean, I don’t think he’s ever read a book in his life—but more than that, what’s in that book represents the hardest year of his life.
When it comes to supporting loved ones through cancer, Kellie has valuable insights to offer.
Don’t ask if you don’t want the answer is probably one piece of advice,” she said.
If you don’t want to know how they are feeling, don’t ask them how they’re feeling … but then also doing the jobs that you don’t want to do yourself.
Kellie said she always appreciated help with maintaining her home, but preferred to care for Sophia herself, whom she’d already lost so much time with.
They want to spend time with that little one they’ve already missed so much time with. They don’t want to be doing the laundry while you watch the child—if that makes sense, she explained.
I think I’ve been really lucky in that they were very good at understanding what I needed.
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