Adam Barlow is the son of the late Mike Baldwin and his former wife Susan Barlow. Shortly after the couple's divorce, Susan returned to Glasgow and gave birth to Adam, keeping him a secret from Mike and the Barlows until 2001. Soon afterwards, Susan died in a car crash, leaving Adam in the custody of Mike. Adam returned to his boarding school in Glasgow before taking up a job at Mike's factory Underworld in 2005, which he later gave up for a job in Portsmouth in 2007. After living in Canada for a number of years, Adam returned to Weatherfield in 2016 after his grandfather Ken suffered a stroke.