Trans teen goes viral after friends surprise him with heartwarming gift

A high school student named Andi Bernabe got a wonderful surprise on his 18th birthday, and the whole heartwarming scene was caught on video.

A group of friends threw him a little surprise party at school, but the real treat was that they’d raised enough money for the transgender teen, who was born female, to legally change his name to Andrew.

After singing “Happy Birthday,” the teens presented Andi with an envelope full of cash, saying, “Since you’re a legal adult ... we kind of raised enough money for you to change your name.”

In a TikTok clip documenting the whole event, Andi is seen falling to the floor in joy and surprise, crying tears of happiness while he clutches the envelope. The moment has since gone viral with over six million views on Twitter and over two million on TikTok.

“It happened out of nowhere,” Andi tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I had no clue at all, not even hints.”

The Texas high schooler says a friend came and got him from a classroom and escorted him to the choir room saying there was a surprise waiting.

“They made this fake paper birth certificate and they all signed it,” Andi says of the piece of paper he’s handed in the video. “I obviously dropped down to the floor and started crying. It was overwhelming honestly, I couldn’t believe they actually did it, especially since it’s $300 (USD).

“I was planning on getting a job to pay for it, and just putting a little bit away every month,” Andi says of his previous plan to get the name-change money.

In addition to the gift, Andi’s friends planned a little party in the choir room, with the theme being a play on gender reveal parties.

“All the decorations were ‘It’s a boy!’-themed. The cake was strawberry and they put blue icing on top,” Andi says. “The joke was, ‘Oh, we accidentally made a pink cake for a girl but it turned out to be a boy.’”

“I came out about two years ago,” Andi adds. “I've been out ever since and all I've gotten is support from my friends and teachers. My school is a really safe place for people like me.”

Andi also mentioned that his friends were the ones who got him his first chest binder a few years back.

“It just made me feel so happy, overwhelmed, I couldn’t believe it, I really couldn’t,” Andi says of his 18th birthday surprise. “My friends are phenomenal honestly. Since day one it’s just been constant support.”

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