She was born in 1961 in Gaziantep. After completing her elementary, secondary and high school education in Gaziantep, she graduated from the Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering of Istanbul University.

She served as an Operation Engineer and Operation Manager for 18 years at SANKO Holding, where she started her career.

In 2001, she became the Founding Member of the Justice and Development Party for the province Gaziantep.  She was elected as the first female member of the parliament from Gaziantep in the general parliamentary elections in 2002. She served as the Member of Parliament from Gaziantep for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th Parliamentary Terms.

During her tenure at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, she served as a member of the Committee on Industry, Trade and Energy and EU–Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, and Chairperson of Research Commission on Violence against Women and Children.

She served as the Vice President in charge of the Organization under the Presidency of Women's Branch in the Headquarter of AKP for a term and Vice President of Political Affairs for another term. She served as the President of Women's Branch in the Headquarter of AKP from 2007 to 2011. She was appointed as the Founding Minister of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies in the 61st government formed after the general parliamentary elections in 2011.  Thus, she became the first female Minister from the Southeastern Anatolia Region.

The Minister Fatma Sahin was recognized as the Woman of the Year by Turkish Foundation For the Handicapped for her efforts with respect to handicapped.

She was elected as the Metropolitan Mayor of Gaziantep and became one of the first female metropolitan mayors of Turkey after the local elections on March 30, 2014. She was elected as the President of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey on May 8, 2018. She served as the President of the Asian Mayors Forum for 2016 – 2019, the Vice President of United Cities and Local Governments for 2016, and the Head of the Middle East and West Asia Section of the Department of the United Cities and Local Governments.

Sahin is married and has two children, and still continue to serve as the President of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey and Metropolitan Mayor of Gaziantep.