McBride was born in 1963 to [[William McBride (doctor)|William McBride]], an obstetrician in Sydney, and Patricia McBride (née Glover), also a doctor.<ref name="Knaus">{{cite news |last=Knaus |first=Christopher |title=Whistleblower charged with exposing alleged military misconduct 'not afraid to go to jail' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/07/whistleblower-charged-with-exposing-alleged-military-misconduct-not-afraid-to-go-to-jail |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="Wroe">{{Citecite AVnews media|last1=Wroe |urlfirst1=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZLQJTvxHfkDavid |title=David'What McBrideI've Ondone Whymakes Hesense Blewto me': The Whistlecomplicated, Oncolourful Thelife Australianof DefenceDavid ForceMcBride |dateurl=2023https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-11i-13ve-done-makes-sense-to-me-the-complicated-colourful-life-of-david-mcbride-20190621-p5204h.html |lastaccess-date=The19 ProjectNovember 2020 |access-datework=2024-06-05[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |viadate=YouTube22 June 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wallace |first=Chris |date=18 November 2023 |title=David McBride’s whistleblower defence crashes |url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-crime/2023/11/17/david-mcbrides-whistleblower-defence-crumbles#hrd |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.pressreader.com/australia/the-saturday-paper/20231118/281487871082292 |archive-date=18 November 2023 |access-date=16 March 2024 |work=The Saturday Paper}}</ref> He has two sisters, Catherine and Louise, and one brother, John.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-18 |title=Doctor who alerted the world to the dangers of thalidomide |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/doctor-william-mcbride-obituary-thalidomide-medicine-20180628-p4zodu.html |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Wroe" />
He graduated in law at the [[Sydney University]] and then obtained a scholarship to take a second degree in the same subject at [[Oxford University]].<ref name="Wroe" />
