
Delores Nowzaradan is the ex-wife of My 600-lb Life surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan. Born in 1953 in Alabama, she married Dr. Now in 1975 and supported his medical career while raising three children. They divorced in 2004 after 27 years of marriage, and she now lives privately in Texas.
Delores Nowzaradan was born on November 20, 1953, in Alabama. She grew up in the American South during the 1950s and 60s, a time marked by traditional family values and close-knit communities. Details about her childhood remain scarce—she’s maintained privacy throughout her life, even before marrying into a medical family.
Before her marriage, Delores worked as a secretary. This was her professional identity when she met the man who would become one of Houston’s most recognized bariatric surgeons. Unlike her future husband, who came from Iran with medical ambitions, Delores represented a more typical American background of the era.
The couple married in 1975. Dr. Nowzaradan had recently completed his surgical residency and was establishing himself in the medical field. At 22, Delores was beginning a life that would revolve around a demanding surgical practice for nearly three decades.
The Nowzaradans settled in Houston, Texas, where Dr. Now built his medical practice. These early years required real sacrifice. Surgical careers demand long hours, emergency calls, and unpredictable schedules. While Dr. Nowzaradan focused on developing his expertise in vascular and bariatric surgery, Delores managed their household.
In 1978, their first child, Jonathan, was born, followed by two daughters, Jennifer and Jessica. For the next several years, Delores handled the daily realities of raising three children largely on her own. Dr. Nowzaradan’s work schedule meant missed dinners, school events, and family celebrations.
Court documents from their divorce case reveal an important detail most articles miss: for 21 of their 27 years together, Delores also cared for Dr. Nowzaradan’s mother, who lived with the family. This added responsibility meant managing multiple generations under one roof while her husband built his Best Care Clinic, which opened in 1986.
The clinic became the family’s primary income source. By 1987, it employed additional physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, medical assistants, lab technicians, and administrative staff. Delores remained at home, providing the stable environment that allowed this medical practice to grow.
All three Nowzaradan children grew up watching their father’s medical career consume family time. The most publicly known is Jonathan Nowzaradan, born in 1978. He became a television producer and director—ironically, the person who would eventually bring his father’s work to millions through My 600-lb Life.
Jennifer and Jessica Nowzaradan have maintained even more privacy than their mother. Jennifer is married and has children, including Norah and Jonah, making Delores a grandmother. The daughters chose lives away from the medical and television worlds that defined their family name.
The children were nominally employed by their father’s clinic and received salaries, though court records note they performed no actual work there. This arrangement, common in family businesses for tax purposes, would later become relevant during divorce proceedings.
Delores filed for divorce in 2002. She initially cited “insupportability”—Texas legal language for irreconcilable differences. Later, she added claims of “cruel treatment.” Dr. Nowzaradan counter-filed, also claiming insupportability.
The divorce proceedings weren’t simple. The trial court issued extensive temporary orders requiring Dr. Nowzaradan to provide support for Delores and maintain the marital home. Court findings confirm he violated these orders, resulting in loss of utility services and threatening the property’s condition.
The biggest dispute involved valuing Dr. Nowzaradan’s Best Care Clinic. His expert witness claimed it was worth $240,000. Delores’s experts, using different methods, valued it between $550,000 and $1.4 million. The court settled on $825,000—a compromise that suggests the true value lay somewhere in the middle.
Both experts noted that obtaining accurate financial information from Dr. Nowzaradan complicated their valuations. Court records indicate he didn’t verify his pretrial inventory and failed to assign specific values to five assets, including partnership interests.
The divorce was finalized in 2004. While exact settlement terms remain confidential, the division favored Delores—some sources suggest she received approximately 70% of marital assets. Given the circumstances revealed in court documents, including violations of support orders and valuation disputes, this division appears justified by the court’s findings.
Delores chose privacy after her divorce. She didn’t give interviews, didn’t discuss her marriage publicly, and didn’t attempt to profit from her connection to a man who would soon become a television personality.
This decision stands in contrast to many celebrity ex-spouses who leverage their former relationships for attention or income. Delores simply stepped back. She reverted to using her maiden name, McRedmond, according to some sources, though this detail appears inconsistently in public records.
She never remarried. Now in her early 70s, she reportedly still lives in Texas, near her children and grandchildren. Her life today remains as private as it was during her marriage—perhaps even more so, since Dr. Nowzaradan’s television fame has made his personal life a subject of public curiosity.
Here’s the ironic twist: the show that made Dr. Nowzaradan famous is produced by his son, Jonathan. The child Delores raised, often without his father present, grew up to create the platform that would make Dr. Now a household name.
My 600-lb Life premiered in 2012, eight years after the divorce. The show documents Dr. Nowzaradan’s work with extremely obese patients, showcasing his direct approach and medical expertise. It’s become TLC’s reality TV success, running for multiple seasons and making Dr. Now recognizable worldwide.
Jonathan’s role as producer means the family legacy continues in an unexpected form. The values Delores instilled—discipline, work ethic, and perseverance—clearly influenced her son’s career path, even if that path led to documenting his father’s work rather than following him into medicine.
Delores herself has never appeared on the show. She maintains no public connection to it, despite her indirect influence on both the surgeon and the producer behind the cameras.
The honest answer: we don’t know many specifics. Delores has successfully kept her life private for two decades post-divorce. She’s believed to live in Texas, enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, and has no interest in public attention.
One source mentions a Facebook account (@delores.mcredmond) with photos of her grandchildren, but this information isn’t widely verified. What’s clear is that she’s chosen a life completely separate from the television world that surrounds her ex-husband and son.
At 71 years old as of 2024, she’s entered a phase of life focused on family rather than the responsibilities that defined her middle years. Whether she watches My 600-lb Life, maintains any relationship with Dr. Nowzaradan, or has thoughts about her portrayal in articles like this one remains her own business.
Her choice of privacy deserves respect. Not everyone connected to fame wants to share in its spotlight. Delores Nowzaradan built a family, supported a career, survived a difficult divorce, and moved forward with dignity. That she’s done this away from cameras and interviews speaks to her character more than any public statement could.
The woman who spent 27 years as a surgeon’s wife now lives life on her own terms—quietly, privately, and by all accounts, contentedly.