Babies Romeo, Juliette make debut in hospital

LEESBURG, Fla.—Two sets of new parents were surprised to learn their babies were part of a Shakespearean connection at a Florida hospital just two weeks after another pair of infants premiered as Romeo and Juliet on the same day at a hospital in South Carolina.

The Orlando Sentinelvreports Juliette Crouch was born Friday morning at Leesburg Regional Medical Center, northwest of Orlando. Hours later, Romeo Kidd made his debut down the hallway.

Hospital privacy laws almost kept the drama from playing out. But a nurse asked Carolyn Kidd her baby’s name and said a Juliette was born earlier that day. She just couldn’t tell them which room Juliette’s parents were in.

“I was completely shocked by it,” Marie Crouch said, adding that she’d heard about the babies born March 19 in a Hardeeville, South Carolina, hospital.

Baby Juliet in South Carolina is spelled as Shakespeare wrote the name. “I had no clue the same thing was going to happen to us,” Marie Crouch said.

In spite of the hospital rules, the two central Florida families began searching for each other.

“I was going to walk down the hallway and say, ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?’” Justin Crouch, Juliette’s father, said.

The nurses were overjoyed when Romeo’s family met Juliette’s family. Lots of pictures were snapped and later in the day, the newspaper reported, hospital officials dressed Romeo in a tuxedo and Juliette in a dress for more pictures.

The couples promised to meet next year to celebrate their babies’ first birthday. It turns out the families have lots in common. Marie Crouch and Carolyn Kidd are each 32 years old and they both have 2-yearold daughters. The families live near each other as well.

“They may end up all going to the same schools one day,” said Justin Crouch, 30.

They exchanged contact information, unlike in “Romeo & Juliet” where the families were mortal enemies.