At the age of 14, she was adopted by the Whitbread family and spent her teenage years in Chadwell St Mary, Essex. Margaret Whitbread, her javelin coach, had offered to take her in when she realised that Fatima was spending a lot of time with her family.[2] Whitbread attended Dilkes County Primary School and the Culverhouse Secondary School (now the Ockendon Academy), both in South Ockendon, Essex, then Torells School, Grays following her adoption.[3]