She was the daughter of William II, Elector of Hesse and Princess Augusta of Prussia.

[1] Marie Frederica was one of six children born to William II, Elector of Hesse by his first spouse Augusta of Prussia.

In 1822, Marie, through the suggestion of her mother's friend, the Swedish countess Charlotta Aurora De Geer, was considered a possible bride for Oscar I of Sweden, but the following year, he married Josephine of Leuchtenberg instead.

[1] He was a son of Georg I Frederick Karl, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, as well as a brother of Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom.

Her son Georg would remain an only child for seventeen years until the birth of his sister Augusta in 1843.