Fatima Bhutto was born on 29 May 1982 in the Kabul, Afghanistan. Her father, Murtaza Bhutto, was son of former Pakistan's President and Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and her mother is Fauzia Fasihudin Bhutto, daughter of former Afghanistan's Foreign Affair official. Fatima Bhutto received her initial eduaction Karachi American School and completed her BA degree in Middle Eastern studies from Barnard College of Columbia University then she received a Master's degree in South Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Her father was killed by police in 1996 in Karachi. Her parents divorced when she was young and Ghinwa Bhutto became her stepmother in 1989.

Fatima Bhutto is a poet cum writer by profession she wrote a book called 8.50 A.M. 8 October 2005 in which she wrote about the changes and the life effect of the people in Pakistan after earthquake. She was not interested in politics but right after her aunt Benizar death she wants to be active through her writing, rather than through elected office.