ORANGE, Calif., [Sept. 28, 2026] — Rady Children’s Health Orange County (Rady Children’s), formerly CHOC, announced today that Payam Saadai, MD, FACS, FAAP, will join its Fetal Care Center of Southern California as a fetal surgeon, bringing extensive experience in fetal and pediatric surgery, research and the development of specialized clinical programs.
The Fetal Care Center of Southern California, a partnership between Rady Children’s and UCI Health, brings together multidisciplinary expertise to care for mothers and babies facing complex prenatal diagnoses across Southern California and beyond. Dr. Saadai will begin supporting the program in a part-time administrative capacity this fall and will join Rady Children’s full time in early 2027. He will hold a faculty appointment at University of California, Irvine.
“Dr. Saadai is an exceptional surgeon and a thoughtful, collaborative leader who shares our commitment to providing the very best care for children and families,” said Kim Milstien, executive vice president and regional president, Orange County, Rady Children’s Health. “He will build upon the strong foundation established by our fetal and surgical care teams, and help us thoughtfully expand the advanced treatment options available to families throughout Southern California.”
Dr. Saadai currently serves as Chief of Pediatric General, Thoracic and Fetal Surgery and Director of the Fetal Care and Treatment Center at UC Davis Health. Double board certified in pediatric and general surgery, his areas of expertise include fetal surgery, pediatric colorectal conditions, robotic surgery and minimally invasive surgery.
He has spent the past 16 years caring for patients, conducting research and developing multidisciplinary programs for children and families facing complex diagnoses. Dr. Saadai also serves as site principal investigator for the CuRe Trial, which is the first in human clinical trial of stem cell therapy in the prenatal repair of myelomeningocele, a severe form of spina bifida.
At Rady Children’s, Dr. Saadai will work alongside maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatric surgery and other pediatric specialists and OB hospitalists, as well as with obstetricians and gynecologists across Southern California and beyond, to expand the care available to mothers and babies facing complex prenatal diagnoses.
His arrival comes as Rady Children’s prepares to open a special delivery unit (SDU), which will allow healthy mothers carrying babies with complex medical needs to deliver onsite, close to the specialized care their babies will need. Together, Dr. Saadai’s recruitment and the SDU will support a highly integrated model of care that brings prenatal diagnosis, fetal intervention, delivery, neonatal care and pediatric specialty care together on one campus.
“Fetal surgery has made remarkable progress, but families in Southern California still have limited access to some of the most advanced treatment options,” Dr. Saadai explained. “I am excited to join the outstanding team at Rady Children’s and contribute to the continued growth of a program that can support mothers and babies through diagnosis, treatment, delivery and care after birth.”
The move is also a homecoming for Dr. Saadai. He grew up in Newport Beach, graduated from Corona del Mar High School and continues to have close family ties in Orange County.
Dr. Saadai earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his medical degree from The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He completed his general surgery residency at Mount Sinai, a fetal surgery clinical and research fellowship at UC San Francisco and UC Davis, and a pediatric surgery fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
