Ellen DeGeneres got a huge and insanely emotional surprise during her Thursday show when Portia de Rossi (AKA her wife) showed up unexpectedly to give her a present.
Turns out de Rossi knows how much her wife admires late conversationalist Dian Fossey (who researched mountain gorillas and set up a fund for them), and made Ellen an institute in her honor. "For your birthday, Ellen, I am bringing you and your hero, Dian, together by building The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund," de Rossi announced. "Ellen, you will carry on Dian's legacy by giving them a permanent home in Rwanda. Now, you will join Dian as a protector and champion of these amazing animals, the mountain gorillas. Happy birthday!"
ANNNNNNND, begin the 😩 . Watch the full clip above.
![](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/gettyimages-495970500-1597145990.jpg?crop=0.774xw:0.258xh;0.127xw,0.0736xh&resize=480:* "AFI FEST 2015 - "By The Sea" After Party")
