The parents of an autistic teenage boy were warned he would be taken into care after they objected to him being given powerful hormone drugs to help him change sex.After the boy told the school he had been barred from treatment, a teacher told his parents that they should find alternative accommodation for their son or else he would be put into temporary foster care. AndA month later, the local authority placed him in a child protection plan after social workers concluded he was likely to suffer 'significant harm' under his parents' care.The parents, who are both middle-class professionals, revealed their ordeal to The Mail on Sunday after reports that at least three children were taken into care last year because their parents objected to them changing gender.The family's problems began in 2015 when the boy started struggling to cope with the pressures of secondary school due to his Asperger's and autism. He started to self-harm and his parents asked his GP to refer him to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.During an appointment with a child psychotherapist, the boy announced he believed he was female. His parents said he had never mentioned such a belief to them previously and suspected that his sudden interest in changing gender may have been another of his autistic obsessions.'We had read that these blockers might not be reversible and there might be long-term effects for brain development,' his mother said. So in 2017, the couple took the decision to remove their son from the care of the Tavistock.Six months later, the school informed them that their son would not be returning home and they were being reported to children's services.Although the family are back together, the boy's mother is still angry about their treatment. She said: 'I cannot bear the thought of other families going through what we've been through. It has been horrendous.'The Mail on Sunday reported last year that a third of those referred to the Tavistock show strong signs of autism.