When as a young woman Soudabeh Ahadi traveled half-way around the world to make her dreams come true, little could she know that she would make other’s people’s dreams come true too.

Dr. Ahadi, who opened her OBGYN practice in Monroe, MI in 1976, has delivered an estimated 10,000 babies in over the decades. In between, she and her husband, Khalil Pakideh, raised two children, both of whom became physicians. Their son, Martin Pakideh, joined her practice two years ago, and their daughter, Aza Khaghany, is a Novi pediatrician who works out of her mother’s Code Road office once a week. Her niece Fereshteh is the office manager and helps Dr. Ahadi there.

Dr. Ahadi was raised in pre-revolution Tehran, Iran, the daughter of a businessman and a homemaker. An older brother had moved to Southfield, MI and her dream was to follow him to the United States. She attended medical school and married her husband, a civil engineer from Tegran who had received his education in West Germany.

In 1971 her dream to come to America came true when she was offered a chance to train near Philadelphia at a hospital affiliated with Temple University. Fulfilling the dream, however, required great sacrifice. She had to leave behind her husband and her young daughter. Her husband was able to join her after six months, but for 2 ½ years their daughter was cared for by Dr. Ahadi’s parents in Tehran. “It was hard,” she remembers, “but sometimes you have to make choices in life. In hindsight, I’m glad I made that decision, and my daughter is glad, too. She was loved by her grandparents back there. It was a good thing—especially after the revolution came.”

Like millions of immigrants before her, Dr. Ahadi brought little with her when she came to this country. She had about $300 when she started her journey, but a cashmere sweater at a shop in London caught her eye. “I always liked clothes,” she recalls with a smile, “I spent more than $200 and bought that sweater. It was light blue and reminded me of Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, one day it was put in a washer. I came here with about $50.”

Also like many immigrants, it took a while to get a handle on American customs. She recalls her first Halloween when she handed out dollar bills because she didn’t know what was expected. “I ran out of money and I started to cry. I didn’t know what to do.”

After her stint in Pennsylvania, where she gave birth to her son and worked in an ER for extra money, she came to Monroe. Dr. Shapoor Ansari, who had a general practice here, had placed an ad in the Irnaian Times – a paper for immigrants – seeking an OBGYN to work with him. Monroe’s size was somewhat of a shock” Tehran had a population of 5 million at the time. “I never thought I would end up in a small town. You never know what life brings you,” she says.

Initially, gaps in technology led to interesting situations. Dr. Ahadi recalls filling in for another doctor one New Year’s Eve and being surprised when a woman had twins when only one baby was expected. Dr. Ahadi was used to ultrasounds, by then common in metropolitan areas, which would have shown twins. “Obviously, there are many happy occasions,” she says of the thousands of deliveries, “and once in a while, it is very sad. These days because of better technology and knowledge, we are able to predict a lot of issues that can be troublesome. That is why I like newer obstetrics much better. It’s much safer than it used to be.”

Our Board