Parentage on birth certificate

I am moving up my plans to apply for my fiance visa, and after really looking at all the fine print I find that it requires the birth certificates to show parentage. No problem on my end, but his does not. He obtained his birth certificate in 2001, so it is a recent copy. It is filled in by hand, gives his name, sex, date and place of birth. It is signed by the deputy Superintendent Registrar. Questions: is this the norm for UK birth certificates? Is it certified/official for what I need it for? and what of the "parentage" statement that immigration wants? I can scan the document (minus the info of course  ) and post it if it makes it any easier to answer my questions.

edit: I knew I had something else to ask...When I returned to the states from England last summer, my passport was not stamped upon re-entry. Was it suppose to be? It could be interpreted as if I didn't come back. You know how government offices are...merely being present doesn't mean you are officially there. 

It sounds like he has the short certifcate which does not list the mother and father.
They used to be handwritten before they got 'puterised.

He will need what is known as a Full certificate. It DOES have the parentage on it. It is larger than A4. The abbreviated one is quite small. He can get one from his local registry office (this is the quickest) and it will be signed by the registrar or he can do it on line (if he was born in England or Wales) from: 

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/births/obtainingbirthcertificates/index.asp

I know Scotland has a New Register House in Edinburgh. It don't appear to be on-line.

The US will require the Original not a photocopy.

Hope this helps
ab

Will it be a "certified" copy, or will he still have to have it notarized? Thanks for the website!

If you'll be supplying his passport with your application, you won't need to include his birth certificate.

Don't worry about not being stamped back into the US -- happens all the time, at least in my experience!