Her 11-month-old daughter, Soleil Dunedin Desai, was conceived in the city on the first of two stints as a locum at Dunedin Hospital.
About to return to Boston, the 40-year-old said Dunedin was the perfect place to start her family with husband Nirav, an investment portfolio manager.
Never had she been in such a collegial workplace, with so much support, and so little politics between clinicians, she said.
And this was despite the fact that when she started her first stint, in September 2010, the future of neurosurgery in Dunedin was in jeopardy, as the city was fighting with Christchurch over where South Island neurosurgery would be performed.
However, she was keenly aware of the situation, and felt she and colleague Ahmad Taha were "in the trenches together", keeping the service running during a period of great uncertainty.
Dr Soni, who trained at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, returned to the United States when she was nearly five months pregnant.
Her daughter had enjoyed many life "firsts" in Dunedin on their return.
She had introduced her to favourite spots, including Sandfly Bay, St Clair and the Dunedin Botanic Garden.
The couple, self-described Francophiles, were delighted to have found a French play group in Dunedin.
The name Soleil is French for sunshine.
The whimsical choice was a "central topic", people remarking Soleil Dunedin "sounds like a poet".
The city's size made it attractive in a career that demanded enormous hours, up to 100 a week.
It had been easier for her to breast-feed Soleil while working, which had been hugely important to her.
Few women were neurosurgeons because of the massive amount of training and the hours it entailed.
Dr Soni, an Indian who describes herself as first generation American, grew up in Kansas, and said she had wanted to be a neurosurgeon since she was a young girl, even though she was not from a medical family.
She wished to thank several people: neurosurgeon Sam Bishara, who came out of retirement to supervise foreign neurosurgeons to enable the service to continue, Mr Taha, Dunedin Hospital nurses and surgery service manager Helen Williams.
She also wanted to thank the patients, who she said personified the "egalitarian" nature of New Zealand's health system, something the United States did not possess.
She signed on at Dunedin in June for up to a year, and it was possible she would return within that timeframe, but for now she was going back to Boston to fulfil study and research commitments.
If a permanent role in Dunedin came up, she would consider it, she said.
Joining Mr Taha this week as the second permanent neurosurgeon is Reuben Johnson.
They will be joined by Prof Dirk De Ridder, of Belgium, in February, bringing the unit to full staffing.
