This is the heartwarming moment a young woman left her stepfather in tears after asking him to legally adopt her as part of a big birthday surprise.

Gabriella Guardado, 22, placed adoption papers and a pen inside a gift bag and presented them to her stepdad, David Lynde, earlier this month for his birthday.

In video capturing the tear-jerking moment, David is seen opening the bag and pulling out the papers while surrounded by his family in their Florida home.

After taking some time to realize what the papers said, the 53-year-old becomes very emotional by Gabriella's sweet gesture.

Gabriella will officially take David's last name on Friday when the paperwork is finalized at the courthouse, Daily Mail Online has learned.

This is the heartwarming moment Gabriella Guardado, 22, left her stepfather, David Lynde, in tears after asking him to legally adopt her on his birthday (David left and the pair together, right)

Moments before pulling the papers out the bag, David did not what to expect when he first saw the pen, reacting very enthusiastically as if that was the only gift inside.

He then is shown digging through the bag and pulling out the papers.

Holding the stack in his hand, he reads out 'adult adoption' before skimming through the pages.

Gabriella, the oldest of five children, then asks him, 'do you know what that is?'

The stepdad responds, 'Am I adopting you?' and starts to tear up after realizing he was going to get to legally adopt her.

Gabriella, pictured left with her stepdad, explained on Facebook that she had wanted David to legally adopt her since she was about 12

After realizing what the papers said, David was overcome with emotion after receiving the gift, shown above as he wipes tears from his face

'I want you to, you don't have to, you can say no, but I want you to adopt me,' Gabriella tells him.

'You've been my dad and I know legal papers don't change anything,' she continues as a weeping David interrupts her when he goes in for a hug.

'Wow, Gabby, you have no idea...,' he says before getting choked up.

'I was waiting for it to register,' Gabriella jokes.

David, still choked up on tears, then apologizes, noting he does not cry much.

He then tells her again, 'Gabby you have no idea how much that means to me. You have no idea.'

Gabriella told Daily Mail Online on Wednesday that she wanted David to adopt her when she was younger but that her biological father would not sign off on it.

Initially as he opened the bag, he pulled out a pen (left), joking as if that was the gift. But then he read the papers that said 'adult adoption' and was moved to tears (right)

Gabriella and David embraced one another after the tear-joking moment as other family members also became emotional during the birthday celebration earlier this month in Florida

Once she turned 18 years old, she thought she no longer could not be adopted so she stopped trying.

However, after recently learning from her boyfriend that she could do an adult adoption, the registered nurse started looking into it.

'So I did research and found out that I could do that without the consent of my biological dad,' she said.

She said David's reaction brought everyone in the room to tears.

'His reaction was so funny because at first he had no idea what I was handing,' Gabriella said.

'And then when it clicked, he just started crying, which made me cry and my mom and everyone else in the room.'

She also noted that having David take the role as her father over the years when he did not have to meant more to her 'than words can describe.'

Gabriella (left), who is a registered nurse, shared on Facebook that the papers will not change the love she already has for David but now it is official

'He helped me grow into the young woman that I am and helped me through all the hard times of getting through nursing school and becoming a young adult,' she said.

Gabriella’s mother, Lori Ann, told Daily Mail Online that David came into Gabriella's life when she was 10 years old, after Lori Ann and David married in 2004.

Lori Ann, 44, was previously married to the father of Gabriella and three of her siblings, but they divorced in 2001 following an abusive relationship.

Since then, Lori Ann told Daily Mail Online that he has not been in her children's lives.

So this month as part as a belated birthday gift for David, whose birthday was on July 31, Gabriella came up with the idea to present him with the papers.

'She came to me and said this is what I want to do, his birthday is coming up and I want him to adopt me,' Lori Ann told Daily Mail Online.

'When she told me, of course I cried. She said I want his name.'

Lori Ann explained that every Sunday she holds a family dinner at their house and that Gabriella said she wanted to present the gift to him during dinner on August 21.

Gabriella pictured younger in a Facebook photo with her mother, Lori Ann. The mother said David has been in her daughter's life since she was 10 years old

'He cried his eyes out, and to me, it was the most beautiful thing,' Lori Ann told Daily Mail Online as she recalled the moment.

'To see his reaction just made parenting worth it,' she said.

'All the tears, all the arguments all the good times and the bad.

'It just made it all worth it. I didn't have a good first marriage, but I did good this time.'

She added: 'I am so thankful he came into my life.'

Lori Ann also said she is so happy Gabriella came up with the idea.

'I know this is something she has wanted,' the mother-of-five told Daily Mail Online.

'She is very strong-headed and so to see her do it and see the appreciation she has for him...

'Growing up it was not the easiest, but he hung in there and never stopped loving them and anything they needed he was always there and it all paid off.'

Lori Ann and David pictured together. They have been married since 2004 and reside in Florida

Lori Ann told Daily Mail Online that she has four children with her ex-husband, Gabriella, a 20-year-old daughter and 19-year-old twin boys, and she also has a 10-year-old son with David.

She said her other three children expressed they also wanted to be adopted by David but will do so in their own time.

Ahead of Friday, she said David and Gabriella are both thrilled for it to all become official. Lori Ann said she will also videotape that special moment.