Selina Hayat Ivy was born on June 6, 1966, in a political family in Narayanganj District. Her father was former Narayanganj municipal chairman Ali Ahmed Chunka and her mother was Momtaz Begum. Ivy is the first child among the five children. She started her education at Dewvog Akhra Primary School. Later on, she was admitted to Narayanganj Preparatory School, where she studied up to the sixth grade. Then she was admitted to Morgan Girls' High School. She got a junior scholarship in 1979 and passed her secondary school certificate examination in 1982. Then she joined the Odessa National Medical University in 1985 on a scholarship from the Russian government and earned a medical degree with merit in 1992. Later, in 1992–93, she completed her internship at Mitford Hospital. Ivy worked as an honorary doctor at Midwest Hospital in 1993–94 and in Narayanganj's 200-bed hospital in 1994–95. Previously, she had also run the municipality for eight years, beginning in 2003. She is affiliated with the Awami League.
